Fire and Fury
by YourNightmare6661
Summary: A tale of Mischief and Chaos. Fire and Ice. Unruly is the silver haired woman who deprived Loki of his freedom. She is harbinger of secrets and lies. But no matter her strength. He will break her. Furya is stronger than he knows. If He destroys her then he is coming for the ride. Bound and tied. Through Fire and Fury. Loki/OC
1. Mischief

**Mischief**

_Mischief: Behaviour that is bad but rarely intended to cause harm. Usually **bad but attractive**._

* * *

In a dungeon, veiled beneath a palace exorbitantly regal, lay in wake a creature on the precipice of destruction. Locked away in its cells, he waited. Bound by the chains that would only tear at his skin this once. Mischief and chaos were bound to his name and to his glory he wouldn't disappoint. Escape was only a matter of time. He hopelessly craved to trick the unfortunate Asgardian soldier who guarded him with cautious eyes. He need only capture enough concern to sway the gold armoured man to open the electrified veil that kept him within his cell. His emerald eyes shifted between the chair and the cold ground, a smirk curled at his lips, he was mischievous indeed.

"Argh", His pale hand clutched at his chest, gasping with effect. The guard widened his eyes in panic, watching the dark-haired man fall to the ground in a violent convulsion. He was still after a moment, seemingly dead. The guard hastily opened the cell, rushing to the side of the prisoner's illusion. A visible smile painted the prisoner's lips to the fearful guard who allowed the god to sneak soundlessly behind him, closer to his freedom. He would have gotten it if it hadn't been for the blue eyes in the dark that stunned him with a charge of electricity before he could pass through the open door. A mistake that they would live to regret.

* * *

"Loki", A voice drew him back to the comforts of his cell, wakening him from his short rest. His eyes shot to the orange glow of the cell wall that had been resealed with no guard to be seen. His mouth curled into a snarl of anger, noticing the figure that lingered in his prison. A silver-haired woman, dressed in a bodice like an armoured black vest that was trimmed in red. Her undershirt was black and long sleeved like Midgardian swat agents. Her zip ridden black pants clung to her skin and housed an array of alien weaponry. Even the leg of her buckled boot revealed the hilt of a red-tipped knife. Had she a flowing leather coat, he would have mistaken her for an assassin.

The buckles on her leather boots clicked softly together with her slow approach, kneeling next to his weakened body. Her hand reached for something on his back, retrieving a metal button like object from his tunic. He reefed his body away from her in defence, ready to attack the unknown trespasser who was nowhere near as scared as she should have been. Her eyes clashed with his snarling expression. She belonged to the blue eyes in the dark, the eyes that reminded him of the electric cobalt of his beloved Tesseract. All that was not covered by a partial mask were those nonhuman eyes.

"You must be the one idiotic enough to have stopped me!", Loki spoke threateningly after a while, unimpressed by her ignorance of his infamy. The blue eyes narrowed to the man who taunted her, examining the metal in her fingers while the other gloved hand shot to her ear. Had she not heard of the God of Mischief?

"The Prisoner is secured, the bug is removed", Her voice spoke sharply into the small earpiece she wore. A low and alluring tone escaped her pouted lips, tainted with the elegant accent of Asgardians and the deep drawl of a Midgardian country known as Australia. A strange yet beautifully paired combination of ruggedness and royalty.

Her earpiece was a wonder, It had to be an alien technology if it functioned on Asgard.

"Listen here wench-", Loki began to speak but was silenced by her raise of hand toward him, as if she weren't talking to a god. He was taken aback by her carelessness. What gave her the right? The Audacity?! She would be the first to face his wrath. Taking her weapons would be his first feat against the vile woman.

"No, I stunned him", Her humourous words sent fire through his veins. His eyes watched her hand retreat from the earpiece. The out of context conversation made him murderous. Though she kept contact with whoever was on the other end of her conversation, her eyes never swayed from his position. She was no amateur.

"Yes, he is contemplating swiping my weapons. I'll meet you on the surface in 5", She ended the conversation, ready to face the god's childlike anger. He had grown bored of her.

"As you were saying", The black-clad woman met his emerald eyes with challenge. He didn't reply. Loki materialized himself behind her with a smug smile, ready to escape this inexplicable boredom. He sensed something about her, something different, powerful. It was mesmerizing, it was something that would soon die for her stupidity. Her knife was within his reach, mere inches away.

"I wouldn't", Her head snapped to him in a second, forcing him to grip onto the weapon. He ripped it from her boot with the swiftness it took her to press down on the metal 'bug' she had dislodged from his clothing. A shock of electricity coursed through his veins from the metal of the red tipped knife, forcing it from his hand.

"Argh", He hissed with fury, growing ever more impatient toward the woman who held his freedom.

"Say goodbye to your family. Tomorrow you are going to a place that will suit you well, Prince Loki, A prison with no comforts of home", Her voice was sharp toward the god who had murdered many. He towered over her muscular frame, his tall figure taunting in his stance of aggression. His slicked back hair seemed glued in place with his movement.

"When I escape I will come for you and you will know the true meaning of pain. Fear. When I have taken all you hold dear then I will kill you slowly, excruciatingly." Loki cursed the woman who had overcome his trap. She unlatched the mask on her face. It was a challenge. If he knew her face it would become childs play to find her. She wanted him to...she dared him to.

"Until that day comes", She sneered through crimson lips.

Loki's green eyes widened at her hand that hovered over a blinking red light, watching as she pressed down and a wave of pain coursed through his body. She stepped out of the prison, nodding to the guard who lowered the door for her exit.

"Argh", The pain left his veins quicker than before, launching his body toward the electrified walls, he followed her with his eyes. His body winced at the sound of her buckled boots tapping in the distance. She would feel his wrath. He would make sure of it.


	2. Intrigue

**Intrigue**

Intrigue: **To pique someone's interest**, especially by being strange, unusual or mysterious.

* * *

Her feet stepped briskly away from the dungeon, her heart beat anxiously against her chest from the meeting with the god of mischief. His behaviour was worse than she had been forewarned. She caught her breath before entering the golden hall where the king stood with her associate Mila, An Asgardian warrior. Mila the saint.

"Fury", Mila breathed out with annoyance, failing to cover the anger he felt toward her venture to stir the God Of Mischief. _Bite me Mila. _Fury's blue eyes darted toward the dark-haired man. Odin himself seemed to have matched Mila's anger as his sights met his eldest son's return. Thor the God of Thunder.

"Loki's treason has been recognised, he remains in chains, where he will remain for the foreseeable future.", Odin spoke quickly toward Mila, who matched Fury's black armour. She imagined the King took her for an idiot. To believe Loki was suffering in his cell would mean so.

"Loki resides where he will be given sympathy and comfort. Only moments ago he convinced a guard to deactivate the safety shield that holds him. Your people feel he is too safe here, too well treated for his crimes. Midgardians want him dead, this is the only compromise.", Fury spoke with authority, crossing her arms to conceal the irritation she felt.

Odin breathed out, meeting her unfaltering stare.

"The Halfbreed speaks for both Asgardians and the people of Midgard", Mila spoke above the silence, trying not to meet the god's anger. He was more of a soft touch. A man of compromise.

"You see only a prisoner. Someone guilty only of the deadly persuasions of the Tesseract. I see my son, a boy who has suffered by my hand.", The silver-haired man replied in a softer tone than before, his eyes flickering to the vacant seat of his queen, Frigga. In her mind, she played the worlds smallest violin for his pity. It was a reflection discovered much too late.

"If all guilty of treason had a father who bore such selflessness your dungeons would be empty. Loki will not be an exception because he is your son. His trial will show whether or not your people share your forgiveness. Until then, it is safer for us to transport him to a prison of an undisclosed location, where he will be treated as a prisoner.", Fury warned the greying man who did not take kindly to her emotionless words. She didn't know the man who she would drag to his foreseeable doom. She knew only of the manipulation forced upon him by the Tesseract, by his desire to become something worthy of his father's love.

"Tell me truthfully, heroine, you say you speak for both races. What is the verdict you foresee?", The king asked wearily, motioning his hand toward the silver-haired girl who spoke so boldly. Mila gave her a glare of warning, fear glistening in his golden eyes. Mila, so loyal to his King. So willing to tiptoe around him.

"Loki will die for his crimes against the realms. If not by his escape than by the hands of his Inmates. Dead or alive, he will come with us.", She replied with caution and little sensitivity toward the matter. She didn't care, not for the God of Mischief, not for Odin's grief. Cold-blooded is what Mila called her. Evolved is how she saw it. Taken advantage of by giving anyone an inch. Taken a mile. Bitter and heartless.

Frigga, the mother of Loki and Thor, approached soundlessly. Her light hair glistening in the golden hall. Her manner was calm but within her, a storm raged at the girl's words. She didn't know the boy who was her son, the attributes he possessed. She didn't see his intellect underneath the monster she had heard of.

"Loki will come willingly, provided he can protect himself on your journey.", Frigga's green eyes glistened with the ghosts of tears.

"What is required?", Mila asked with respect for his queen.

"Daggers, a pair of twins. In his chambers. A leather-bound book of the same location.", Frigga replied with narrowed eyes that stayed on Fury. She could see the half breed warrior was more than what she seemed. An aura of magic hovered above her. The Queen had questioned why a glorified Asgardian was accompanied by a half breed agent in such a task.

Mila bowed his head in agreement, stepping away from the pedestal to retrieve the set items.

"For the modesty of my son I would much rather be accompanied by Furya", Frigga halted the soldier's action. Fury met the woman's demands, following after the blue gown that moved with haste.

* * *

A dull silence filled the empty space between Fury and Frigga on their entry through a black framed door that had begun to sprout ivy in Its neglect. The door softly closed behind the two, welcoming them into a spacious room that lay in a cleaner state than was expected. Books lined the walls in a black wooden casing, hundreds of beautifully kept books, all placed back with the utmost care. The monster's bed was a simple four poster with a deep green ottoman at the foot and simple black sheets. A singular chair was placed in the corner, surrounded by shelving and one lamplight. It was difficult to picture the prince residing in such peace. She had expected his room to withhold an element of perversion: An orbiting circle bed or some array of chains. From an outside point of view, the owner of the room seemed entirely normal but Loki was anything but. His illusion extended further than the magical world.

"I'm afraid you have fallen prey to one of Loki's schemes", Frigga halted beside the small fireplace, wiping the dust from its mantle. Fury raised her eyebrow with a query, confronting the Queen's sympathetic expression. Fallen Prey? Fury? It was laughable.

"Or he has fallen for yours. I was uncertain of why you left him with your knife. It was a dangerous mistake to make. I would retrieve it with the utmost haste.", The ageing woman spoke with wit, warning Fury against matching Loki's mischief. She would lose. An item of personal significance would allow her son to latch onto the protector of realms. To haunt her with dark sorcery, and when he gained freedom, to kill her.

"It was not mine", Fury replied, meeting the bookshelf with awe. She saw where Loki had gained his title, she had not seen the queen hiding in the shadows. It was a mistake she was certain to fix for her next meeting.

Frigga narrowed her eyes, studying the mischievous rival who would take her son from his home.

"You are a protector of both Asgard and Midgard. A half-breed to both. Someone who was chosen for their unyielding courage. Yet you are a stranger to this realm. A warrior unknown to me.", The amber-haired woman watched Fury's slender fingers curl around the spine of a crimson covered novel, intrigued by its contents of sorcery. Her red lips murmured a few words of scripture within the book, tilting her head with thought. Transparent was what the Queen's behaviour toward her became. A bitter woman who wouldn't part from Loki without a fight.

"I imagine it was you who collected these tales of black magic, Frigga. Where does one find such novels? There are none within this realm.", Fury asked softly, peeling her eyes toward the uncomfortable woman who she had ignored. She knew one would have to travel to distant lands to find such treasure, to peel it from unwilling hands.

The Queen was silent in her movement that fluttered across the room, gripping the hilt of Loki's polished green dagger.

"The novel you hold is quite an astonishing read", Frigga flinched at the mercenary's autonomous path that led to a book rather precious. Her green eyes glistened with fear while they searched Fury's muscled but slender stature. The woman possessed an alluring beauty in her pale skin that glowed underneath the golden Sun and her pronounced but slender nose that shielded the light from her left side. Her lips pouted just enough that to look natural, they matched her long shapely face that held dark eyebrows and eyelashes despite her almost silver blonde hair. A silver ring pierced the left side of her nostril. She was visually appealing in the sharpness of her face. Questions riddled the Queen's thoughts. Fury was different from anything she'd seen before. If she knew anything it was that Fury wasn't human.

"Is it dark magic you wish to learn?", Frigga tested with her knife gripped firmly in her hand, lurking uncomfortably close. The blonde haired woman knitted her brows in disbelief. Did she take Fury for a fool?

"I am well learned in sorcery, I can see that you are not. Yet you hold but a sliver of magic.". Fury searched the Queen's eyes with a blatant glare. Frigga smiled politely while grasping tighter at the knife she had concealed under her sleeve.

"I have retrieved the novel, it is time", Fury's heart beat with anticipation that urged her feet past Frigga. She hovered over the Queen, motioning toward her blade.

"You think I would give you a weapon, Loki?", She met Frigga's lips, unnerving her with their curl into a snarling grin. The queen's flowing gown was replaced with a black leather tunic, trimmed with a forest green material against golden stripes. Her amber hair turned a midnight Black and her sun-kissed skin lost all warmth. Suddenly Fury no longer exceeded the height of the person In front of her.

"You are perceptive, I will give you that and only that. What was it that shattered my scheme?", Loki smirked graciously, finding a sliver of joy in testing the woman's competence.

"Frigga knows who I am.", Fury hissed, swiping the knife from his grasp. He held many questions but none posed more obvious than that of how had he never met her in his 1000 years. It was his mistake. He assumed she was a woman of Midgard, an agent of SHIELD.

"Is Furya it not your name?", He jabbed. He had noticed his mistake moments after he had said the words under his mother's disguise. Fury had unravelled his ploy then and there. He watched her, following her hand that sheathed his dagger against her belt. Had she learned nothing?

"Not to you", Her reply was quick, without thought. His musk overcame her senses with the strong scent of leather and old parchment. She had to admit his illusion was damn near impossible to tell apart from his corporeal form. His sorcery was strong. She knew it to be near impossible to achieve such an illusion. While he sparked her interest it was a rookie move to be alone with the trickster. He'd bring death or chaos. Or both.

Fury's feet ushered her closer to the door, turning her back on the trickster, her only mistake yet.

"I finally have a name to match the eyes. It seems a waste to have to kill you"

A loud shatter alerted her, turning just in time to avoid the wrath of Loki's sharp blade before his illusion was dissipated by a hulking beast of a man who slammed himself against the wooden floor, fooled by Loki's tricks. He stood quickly and she met his mirroring blue eyes that narrowed toward her, hoping to find some recognition. He didn't know her.

"Thor?", She questioned the flustered muscled man whose golden hair settled at his shoulders. His outfit was a brushed grey colour, accompanied by a red cape.

"And you are?", The man who had crashed through the window to save her questioned with politeness. His mother mentioned only that Loki had latched onto a new captor, that he planned to harm her.

"Fury", She replied with delay, her eyes meeting that shattered glass that sprayed against the luxurious rug underneath, littering it with sharp shards.

"Fury...", Thor halted his speech, unsure of what else to say. He knew she had come to take his brother. His eyes drifted to her similar colour choice in armour.

"I like the red", He pointed to the red stitching of her vest, earning a weak nod from the woman who watched him retrieve the hammer that had launched him through the window. Her blue eyes squinted with furrowed brows. The man was a rainbow in godlike form. His childlike grin told her as much. Delaying her speech.

"Uh huh"

"I would very much like to continue this conversation elsewhere. Would you accompany me?", Thor's eyes darted around his brother's room with caution. He didn't underestimate the power Loki had. The trickster was most logically was watching them now. Peering at them through whatever he used to see Fury, An object, A person even a strand of hair. Luring them to his room was a new trick that he had been reduced to inside his cell. He was weakened but never powerless.

Fury nodded her head in answer. Anything to leave the strong sense of being watched she felt within the room. Little did she know that the god had meant to leave in the same hole he had made through part of the glass door and golden wall. Her eyes widened with warning, seeing his arm reach for her waist.

"No way in hell", She hissed, resisting his grip that lightly swayed her closer.

"Yes way", He smiled with amusement, grasping her at his side with ease and taking off from the black tiled floor. His reply was a whisper over the whooshing wind his hammer created, swirling it like a lasso.


	3. Chaos

Chaos

Chaos: A state of disorder and confusion.

* * *

"Get off me", Fury fought out of the iron grip that bound her at the God's side. Entrapment was all she felt against the towering beast of a God.

He released her on the landing of a room that resembled a well-lit crypt. It was largely pillars and concrete.

"I mean you no harm". Thor grunted through her swift jab to his abdomen. Their flight was quick and uneventful, he wasn't sure why she had reacted the way she did. He didn't dwell on her. Instead, he walked briskly to the woman who laid upon a concrete slab. A human by the looks of things. She held an expression of interest for the red energy that circled above her head. Thor was a sight for her eyes. She was glad to see him. It meant she could be only one person. The Human that she had heard only rumours of Jane Foster.

"I see Thor found you in just time", Odin startled Fury with his booming voice that overcame the silence. He met the black covered book gripped in her hands with a raised brow.

"You mean to entertain Loki's wishes?",

"No. I mean to find why he wanted this particular book", Fury breathed out. Her fingers gripped tighter against the soft leather cover.

"Do what you must but be wary of Loki. You have not met his compassion.", Odin met Thor's guilty eyes with disappointment then settled back to her.

"And he will not meet mine",

Fury withheld the aggravation that boiled in her veins, he underestimated her. A mistake that was most foolish to make. Had he the time or patience, he would have entertained her conversation. She could see the vacancy in his eyes that tore his attention to his son who had so willingly brought a human to Asgard. A mistake he wouldn't dare make again.

"It was foolish of me to keep Loki within Thor's reach. I see now that his judgement is not for the best of Asgard...", Odin uncrossed his arms, straightening the golden bracers that had been knocked out of place. "Take Loki tonight...before it is too late", He breathed out with anguish, striding towards the mess his son had made.

"My words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely?"

Thor fought for words to say to calm Odin's anger but none would give justice to his action. "She's ill."

"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait.", Odin stared down to the brown haired mortal that had corrupted his son with such disobedience. It awoke anger in Thor, that his father would turn a blind eye to someone he loved so dearly.

"I brought here because we can help her."

"She does not belong here in Asgard anymore than a goat belongs at a banquet table.", Jane sat up from being examined by Asgard's healers, visibly aggravated. Fury crossed her arms, watching the show begin.

"Did he just...? Who do you think you are?",

"I'm Odin. King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms.", Jane piped down. "Oh. Well, I'm..."

"I know very well who you are, Jane Foster.", Jane turned to look at Thor.

"You told your Dad about me?", Thor smiled weakly, continuing with his explanation.

"Something is within her, father, something I have not seen before."

"Her world has its healers, they're called doctors, let them deal with it. Guards, take her back to Midgard."

Two guards approached Jane and attempted to grab her, suddenly the energy force within her triggered, throwing the two guards into opposing walls. Fury narrowed her eyes with suspicion, stepping closer to the human as Thor rushed to her side.

"Don't touch her." Thor crouched down and tenderly checked on Jane. "Jane, are you alright?".

Fury watched Odin inspect the energy force running through Jane's body. "That's impossible."

"The infection, it's defending her.", A healer dressed in a dull brown gown spoke.

"No, it's defending itself.", Thor replied.

"Come with me.", Odin motioned to the human, summoning her by his side.

"Fury will not wait all day, say what you must", Odin shooed away Thor with impatience.

"I will not leave Jane alone",

"She is not alone", The king silenced his son with the anger in his voice. Thor opened his mouth to speak but closed it once more, feeling his argument would be unworthy.

Thor met the blonde haired woman with a half-hearted smile that faded quickly at the sight of the book within her hands.

"That book is dangerous", He warned, stepping uncomfortably close to her. "But you know this...it is why you have it", Fury didn't sense anger from his tone, curiosity maybe, question. He wasn't sure how to approach the questions that he had.

"Ask me what it is you are hinting towards?",

"Why you. Of all who could have been chosen by the council. Why you?", His question held no hostility towards her like he was thinking aloud. "Why a half-breed against a god. I cannot understand",

"You're so tiny and weak", The words struck a nerve, almost as fast as her taser struck his chest. He grunted in pain, convulsing onto his knees. Fury pocketed her weapon, ceasing the electrical charge that surge through his torso, kneeling next to him.

"Because I'm good",

Thor nodded with an impressed smirk on his lips. She was good. Fast and agile. He hadn't even seen the weapon until it was too late

"Good", She patted his shoulder, offering aid to get the hulking beast back to his feet. She held little patience for anyone but she welcomed his righteous innocence. It was a change of company for her. He was good. Possibly the only person she had met that was genuinely so.

"I do not trust him, Fury. I don't trust what torture he would inflict on you if he came free. Allow me to accompany you in your travels. If only to be the one to meet Loki's end.", Thor breathed out with a grunt of pain. Her taser packed a mean punch. It would not be enough to deter his brother. He wouldn't allow her to be Loki's victim.

"You didn't create the monster. It's not your role to contain it...Say your goodbyes and let us be on our way.",

Although her words were stone sharp she met his sadness with an empathetic stare, making her way back to the dungeons.

* * *

Prisoners swarmed into the dungeons, lead by their captors. Asgardian warriors in shiny metal armour. They entertained the most well cared for captive with their groans of detest. Among his joyous provocation, Frigga appeared in his cell.

"Odin continues to bring me new friends. How thoughtful.", Frigga glanced to the pile of untouched books she had provided to her son with a knitted brow.

"The books I sent, do they not interest you?"

Loki hadn't seen her appear, yet he wasn't overjoyed that she had.

"Is that how I'm to while away eternity, reading?", His mouth curled into a menacing snarl.

"I've done everything in my power to make you comfortable, Loki.", Frigga reasoned, hurt by his ungrateful words. She loved him beyond words yet it seemed unrequited

"Have you? Does Odin share your concern? Does Thor? It must be so inconvenient them asking after me day and night."

"You know full well it was your actions that brought you here.", The woman couldn't bear to see her son taken from her.

"My actions. I was merely giving truth to the lie that I had been fed my entire life, that I was born to be a king."

"A king? A true king admits his faults. What of the lives you took on Earth?

"A mere handful compared to the number that Odin has taken himself."

"Your father..."

"He's not my father!

"Then am I not your mother?"

"You're not."

Frigga smiled at him with tears growing in her eyes.

"Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself.", She took a step towards him and extended her hands, Loki went to touch her hand but she was no more than a hologram, Loki looked at Frigga with sadness and her illusion disappeared.

"That poor woman. To have a son like you.", Blue eyes stared back at him through the orange veil that protected her. "I would have just read the books", Fury climbed the ledge that was a mere 2 foot from the ground, coming face to face with the god was an exhilarating feeling. Provoking him was a feeling even more euphoric. She watched his hand curl into a fist at the sound of her voice. His black hair became slightly untamed with the vigour of his approach, he wanted to know her face before he killed her.

"Why are you here? Come to die you foolish girl?!, His fist slammed against the orange veil and she met his emerald Orbs with a smile. He saw beneath her crimson lips she had two pointed fangs among her slanted teeth. Like a vampire?. It sparked an interest in the woman who hounded him. He hesitated, examining her face with narrowed eyes and a knitted brow. Her eyes held the vibrancy of an electric spark, she was fast, too fast for a human. Her hair was almost white like it had never seen the sun. A vampire would be a reasonable guess had he not known better. Yet after being locked away in darkness for so long, he wasn't sure he did know better.

"As much as I enjoy this silent stare down, It is not why I am here", Fury spoke above the tension-filled silence. He stepped away from her, facing his leather-clad back towards her dismissively.

"We leave tonight, Prince...I would try to fix that mess before we do", The woman recalled his awful words towards his mother. Tonight?

Screams echoed through the dungeons, taking with them the soft lighting that burst into scatterings of glass on the ground. Loki smiled a sinister grin. He would settle to watch her die.

Fury snapped her head towards the cells that boomed with activity. Her heartbeat fastened at the shattering of the prison cell walls that released hundreds of prisoners onto the guards.

"Oh how lovely, I get to see you die", Loki's face beamed with a smile, slicking back his hair that had come unstuck. His hand hovered over the books Frigga had left, settling on the one with a smooth grey spine.

"Fuck...", Fury swore, her eyes searching for an escape from the chaos that reigned upon her. It was only the calm before the storm.

"Indeed", Loki smirked, his victory was sweet and had not come at a more opportune time.

Prisoners bounded towards her, their teeth bared and their weapons raised. She breathed out to calm her trembling nerves, gripping the handles of her swords. Her finger hovered over the silver buttons that shined against the black and red hilt. The dark dungeon sparked with a bright blue flame that extended the grips she held. Fury jumped off the ledge, slicing into a dark-skinned creature that charged toward her. Prisoners danced around her, meeting her flaming blade in their attempt to kill her. She fought well compared to the guards that had almost diminished from the dungeons. She was fast, precise with her aim. He thought she might even escape until a ghastly creature slammed the flaming swords from her grasp in a single hit.

"Oh well", Loki chided, returning to his book. He had paid no mind until minutes later when a blur of blonde hair swept past his sight. Fury was significantly more dishevelled than before with strands of hair falling from her high tied hair and a visible cut peeking from the left side of her bottom lip. She launched herself towards a hulking man, meeting his jaw with her elbow. Her limbs swiftly jabbed and kicked at the beast who bounced back to her as a bloodied mess. Impressive.

Arms grabbed at her black padded vest that withheld the bulk of her arsenal, Holding her still. She reached for the dagger in her belt buckle.

"You're pissing me off!",

Blood splattered the wall of white in her swift jab into the man's throat, a vicious attack. She was glorious with her chest heaving in exhaustion and her teeth bared in anger. Her blue orbs flickered to the figure seated in his cell, his eyes torn from the pages onto a much more intriguing sight. A sinister smile curled at his lips upon meeting her eyes.

The knife in her hand proved useful until she could somehow retrieve her swords that had been kicked over the floor in a frenzy of clattering feet.

"Behind you", Loki spoke without glancing up from his book. Fury snarled to the beast behind her, gripping the knife tighter in her hand. He held her swords in both hands, a victorious grin spread on his lips, almost matching her own. His calloused fingers pressed on the array of buttons to release the fiery blade. It didn't work. He pressed it again with anger. Nothing.

"Try it once more", Fury's voice was low and taunting, aware that the blades didn't contain a fire within themselves. He jammed the circular button with his thumb, despite her ominous words.

Flame consumed his hands, growing to his forearms in a blue fiery blaze. His screams of agony were ignored as she swiped the weapons from his hands, sheathing them at her side. The corners of her mouth curled into a smirk of hilarity, watching the beast set a number of things and people on fire in his plea to extinguish the flame.

The hulking man she had encountered moments prior returned to the fight against her, swatting her with all his might, slamming her into the ground.

"Argh", She groaned under the grasp of the man's hand against her throat. He lifted her by his grip around her neck, launching the blonde haired woman toward the orange veil that contained Loki. Loki waited for the sweet sound of her getting knocked unconscious by the wall. He was quite disheartened to see the wall glitch, it was only for a moment but it allowed the woman into his cell, flattening her against the floor with a thump.

Fury peeled herself off the floor with an audible groan, her vision was blurred from the force of her landing. Oh no. Her eyes widened to the four walls that surrounded her.

"...Shit",

"Indeed", Loki's voice spoke sharply in her ear. She could feel his breath on her neck, see his towering shadow behind her. Her heart beat faster in her chest that heaved with exhaustion.

"Now let's see who you really are", She heard him murmur a few words before his spell took her into unconsciousness.


	4. Deceit

**Deceit**

Deceit: The act of keeping the truth hidden, especially to gain an advantage.

* * *

Deep within the dungeon underneath the dirt lay in wake a woman at the mercy of the God of Mischief. Against the hard ground, her hair splayed and her body was still for Loki had gotten the information he had wanted, but it was not enough. She wouldn't give him all of her secrets. It made his mouth snarl in impatience. She was strong. He hoped not strong enough to fight him much longer. The spell left his victims in a euphoric state, then he would destroy her.

Her sharp inhale startled the God, who crept away from her body, keeping her under a watchful eye. She jolted up off the brown floor in panic. Finding him at the source of her grief.

"Your mother was bitten by a vampire while you were in the womb, yet you were both saved with magical blood. Oh my how tragic", Loki smiled with satisfaction, finding comfort on his chair. Telepathy was an ability he had mastered, one she had tried to steer clear of.

A breath hitched in her throat. She had expected him to pry but it didn't soften the impact of his discovery.

"You're a monster", He spoke without breaking his intense eye contact. She held the physical appearance of a human despite her eyes and slightly pointed teeth but she was not a monster. She didn't feel the lust for blood nor the sensitivity to sunlight. By all means, she was human. Her strength was all that linked her to the vampire race. That secret wasn't the one he searched for, he wanted to know what magic she possessed, how to hurt her, where to begin.

"No", Fury smiled cheerfully, striding to the side of the cell. A side effect from his spell. Her answer surprised him.

"Monsters aren't real.", She added, watching a guard get flung into a pillar with a smile. Loki breathed out in annoyance.

"Mila?", She called into her earpiece, facing her back to the man in a childish manner. He had been rude therefore he no longer existed.

"Mila?", Her feet led her to the view of the stairs, where Mila should have been waiting. He wasn't replying.

"Damn"

"I am a God!", Loki hissed with venom, "I will not be ignored!",

"Then, by all means, find a record that isn't stuck on repeat!", She smirked victoriously. He didn't understand her quip. He did, however, recognise the mocking tone in her voice.

"My dear Fury, what will it take for you to fear me?", He asked with gritted teeth, pulling her attention back toward him.

"I would very much like to see the monster that hides underneath your skin", Fury responded with wit, folding her arms in defiance. Underneath his beauty he was boring. A child who had been stripped of its Toy. His Sorcery and secrets were his intrigue.

"N...no", Loki stammered for words to be found. Did she want to die? Was that her wish?

"This get up...Not Impressed" Fury pressed, motioning towards him. Her eyes darted between people running back and forth within the dungeon. Loki was silent, calculating in his next move to provoke her power to seep to the surface.

"Hey, what's the deal with your brother.", She spoke quickly, darting from subjects with an unnatural pace.

"Wha-",

"I mean to say he is an absolute marvel to behold and you...not so much", Loki twitched with irritation. Everyone who met Thor loved him, why not the half-breed? He was the reason Loki was stuck in a cell instead of ruling over Asgard, the thorn in his side. Such questions wouldn't fair her well. He would warn her once, if only for the chance to witness the ability she held.

"Fury-",

"Don't misunderstand me you're hotter than the fires of hell but you're just as dangerous.", She was doing it on purpose, he knew she was but it didn't make her words any less aggravating. He could feel himself becoming undone by her mindless question. She was infuriating him, an action most unwise.

"Where is Thor?", The woman glanced around the dungeon for the blonde haired man. It was the nail in the coffin. A foolish move.

Loki gripped her arm viciously, finally gaining her attention with his skin that faded into a light blue and his eyes that morphed blood stained red. He waited for her to back away, to run. Anything.

She looked at him with an expressionless face. His skin crawled with runes that swirled over his once white skin. He thought himself a monster in the blue form. Loki towered over her with intimidation, his hands emitted a freezing chill that gripped her arms in frost. Fury gritted her teeth in pain from the bite of the cold, searching his red eyes for something more. She thought she would fear the frost giant? Why didn't she? Perhaps it was that she had become cold-hearted. Desensitized to the mildly horrific, in fact it excited her dead heart. Deranged was a word to describe her intrigue. Twisted.

She could see that he feared himself more than he could her.

"Please someone save me from this creature, he's really cold. If I stay in here any longer I'll need...a jacket", Fury taunted with a smile. He growled with anger, baring his white teeth. Her arms didn't burn at the touch, they felt hot, why?

"Oh, I'm sorry.", She apologized, raising her voice to anyone who lingered in the dungeons. "He's also so very scary", Her voice trailed in a more hushed tone. "He doesn't at all look like Loki went wild with the body paint". Sarcasm dripped off her words that seemed endless in their infinite combination.

"Quiet!", He growled, flickering his eyes over the woman who had feared him not. She dared to mock him when she should have rightfully run. He breathed out and ceased his blue-skinned illusion.

"Oh wow",

Finally, some sort of reaction, it was not toward him though, he followed her eyes with an annoyed expression. A tall creature looked in at them, horrifying in appearance. Eight horns sprouted from the sides of the creature's helmet, three on each side of his red splattered helmet and two curled tusks formed somewhat of a mouth. She had seen him destroy the guard with the touch of his hand. He emitted a red glow from his hands that killed them instantly, like nothing she had ever seen. It made her glad she had been on the other side of the wall when he arrived.

"Now he is scary. If I don't die by his hand I'm going to be disappointed", The spiked beast looked between Loki and herself with white, lifeless eyes. He was releasing the prisoners. She had heard his thundering footstep shatter the barrier to the prison cells beside them. Loki watched the cogs spin in her mind, waiting for the creature to release him. She had other plans.

"Keep moving, Spike, This prisoner is mine!", Fangs extended from her mouth in a hiss of warning before electric blue energy illuminated the veins in her hand, summoning a small flame that danced in her grasp. The creature grunted in challenge, turning away the God of Mischief. Loki's look was murderous and his actions more so.

"Now he was a real 'monster'. Did you see those spikey things? You should definitely steal that disguise.", Fury's voice pierced the veil of screams that surrounded them.

"You might want to take the stairs to the left", Loki called to the creature. While she had proven hard to kill, her friend Mila would be a compromise. He hoped that oaf he once called a friend would meet the sharp end of the beast's knife.

"Do you think if I ran I could catch him?", Her thoughts trailed in their magically fueled tangent. He impressed her, the dull creature. Yet she was bored by the god of mischief.

"Fury-"

"No you're right, he looks like he'd cry after —", Loki halted her irritating ramble, gripping her arms violently to gain her attention for just a moment. A bright green swirl of magic escaped his hand, giving him a sinister glow to match his evil status. Her eyes followed the energy that stemmed from his murderous rage. She came between him and his freedom twice, he wouldn't take the insult to be defeated by a half-breed mutant, someone who hadn't the slightest clue of the world of magic.

"Enough! I will not be made a mockery of! I will not be taken to another prison!, You will show me your power by your choice or mine. Then I will have that book you have so graciously hidden from my sight and you will kneel before me as your king!", Loki spat with rage, meeting her blue eyes that narrowed towards him. He didn't know. Odin hadn't told him. Fury clenched her jaw at his statement that had enveloped the cell in a green mist. Her upper arms ached in his violent grip that relayed his frustration.

"Why do you want that book so badly?", Her voice overcame the fear that raised in her body. To tell him that Odin had sentenced him to death would be a mistake.

His jaw clenched in a furious manner that made her heart beat faster against her chest. Had she heard nothing?!

"You need it to escape", Fury's high pitched voice of euphoria sudden wore off in her realisation. A smile perched on her lips...Had she tricked him? The God of Mischief? Had his spell not affected her at all. No...There was no possibility.

"I am not unlearned in magic Loki", She smirked through the blue fire that flamed in her palm, revealing to him the charm she wore to protect her from other's magic.

"...What?",

"Fury", Thor called through the dungeon, seeing her trapped in the prison with his brother. He opened the door, allowing her to escape. Loki hadn't reeled back from her mischievous scheme. He was impressed. She was good. He watched her leave with knitted brows. She walked next to his brother, halting in her step to look back to him.

"Do you think if you ran fast enough you could catch me?", Fury chided, initiating a dangerous game. He smiled a sick grin, running his hands along the red tipped knife he had taken from her. Her hair swayed in her brisk walk next to his brother who hurried her along with his arm urging her forward, assuring that she was unharmed. That the beast hadn't wounded her.

"Until next time, Fury", Loki smiled a victorious grin, she was skilled but he was the God of mischief. A small clang echoed in the white cell as he let her grey charm slip through his fingers.

* * *

"You are playing a dangerous game", Thor spoke with anger, running with the half-breed at his side. She was mad to try to best Loki, even more so to enter his cell.

"Loki will come for that book, in any form he can take. He needs it to escape. To rule over Asgard", Fury hissed with a pain she had not shown Loki, her thigh had been met by the blade of one of the prisoners. It stang with a powerful vengeance. Thor didn't miss her sudden limp as soon as they reached the landing of the stairs.

"Did he harm you?",

He mistook her bravery for fearlessness. In truth, Loki's reputation scared her, the thought of having to transport him to another world, even more so.

Chaos reigned upon the great halls that were scattered with the motionless bodies of Asgardian soldiers. Fury ignored Thor's concern, pacing to meet the still corpse that laid among the soldiers.

"Mila",

"Jane", Thor's eyes widened with fear, he had left her on her own with the protection of his mother. She was only a few rooms away from the hall that was scattered with bodies.

"Go", Fury spoke softly, urging him to leave while she examined Mila's body with a sour expression. He looked the same as the Guards in the dungeon, put to death by the spiked beast's red flame that charred him from the inside out.

Thor left her side in seconds, striking a small breeze on his departure.

"Yours I imagine?", A woman dressed in a metal armour approached her. She held dark hair and an unyielding glare that matched the sharpness of her blade. A man appeared at her side, he was blonde with a handsome face. Fury had seen them before bringing in prisoners, moments before the dungeons were attacked. They fought to keep the rogue escapees in.

"So, you are the one", The handsome man stepped forward, his blue eyes clashing with her own. "The one who bested the God of mischief", The man extended his hand with pleasantry. "Fandral",

Fury narrowed her eyes to the man with question, ignoring his introduction. She settled on the warrior woman who said nothing.

"What Are these creatures?", Fury asked the woman, who seemed more equipped to answer her question than her indecent friend.

"Dark elves. They've come for the human", The woman spoke with delay, sizing up the black-clad warrior. "Your name is Fury is it not? You are to take Loki to a prison world.",

Fury nodded, feeling the extent of her injuries. Her eyes wandered to the alien ship that had crashed through the pillars of the hall.

"This is Sif", Fandral spoke without welcome, meeting Sif's venomous stare.

"The elves are retreating", Sif observed, watching a ship disappear from her sight.

"If they are retreating, then it means only that they got what the wanted", Fury observed, striding at a fast pace toward the path Thor had taken, her hand gripped firmly on the butt of her holstered gun. Sif and Fandral trailed behind her in aid of their friend.

The room was silent as Fury entered with her weapon drawn. There on the floor laid Frigga, motionless in her pool of blood that spilt at her waist.

"No", Sif whispered, shouldering past Fury with urgency.


	5. Lies

**Lies**

Lie: to say or write something that is not true **in order to deceive someone.**

* * *

In collective silence, Asgard mourned for their Queen, Thor for his mother. Fury parted ways with her friend's corpse, consumed by the anger that pointed back to Loki. Her steps brought her back to the butterflied staircase of the fortress that led to his room. She would find how to destroy him if it meant tearing the room down to its structure. Her hurried footsteps echoed through the emptied wing that glittered with tapestries of the Prince the closer she neared his room. Her hand hovered over the door handle with hesitance.

_"Whatever you do, you mustn't wage in war with Loki. He will win", Frigga warned Fury with a curious expression, flickering her eyes up and down the woman who would attempt to handle her son. She held such mesmerizing eyes._

_"Why me?", Fury was curious about the woman's intrigue. She was hunted down by the Asgardian Queen as a mercenary when her son had attacked the Earth to kill Thor. Frigga knew that Loki was to leave Asgard by his own will or he would be put to death._

_"Because you are the only one with the power to contain him. You are a hybrid of sorts. Someone of equal mischief. Most importantly you are unknown to him", The queen replied under the harsh lighting of Asgard's sparring grounds. Frigga saw within the woman's eyes the Tesseract which her son had loved with such passion and in her power, she saw someone in need of guidance, guidance beyond her skill set._

_"Shapeshifting is an ability dear to Loki, he is very believable in most disguises. This is why it is imperative he doesn't know who you are. Trust me, he will try. My son, as evil as he seems can be quite alluring in his charm. He will try to read your thoughts, and you will let him. When he disguises himself under someone else listen for names and terms of expression. You'll find him to be quite obvious.", Frigga breathed out, summoning herself into an illusion of the god that spawned into five others._

_All six of the replicas brandished a long pointed dagger from their sleeve, stalking towards her._

_"Very obvious", Fury span on her heel, knocking the blade from Frigga's hand that had tried to stab her in the back._

_"You'll do quite well"_

In the darkness of nightfall, the blackened wooden door creaked open from the overgrowing ivy that had sealed it shut. Fury breathed in the addictive scent of ancient parchment that enveloped the vast room. In the dark, she could see the broken glass that shined against the light fires of Frigga's funeral. She flicked the energy source on the tapered ceiling to life, ridding herself of the shadows. Her legs brought her into the centre of the room, the place that held the most lingering power. She would talk and he would listen.

Fury's slender hand reached for the book she had hidden from him within a place he wouldn't suspect, the ceiling of her room. She sat, pressing her boot against Her wounded opposing leg and her back leaned against the green ottoman. Her fingers flickered through the pages of the book with intrigue. She had what he wanted. He would come eventually. Until then her eyes laid upon the novel's core of dark, cruel magic. Its words were unrepeatable, vile.

Fury tore her eyes away from the pages with disgust, startling at the figure that watched Frigga's funeral from the shattered window. His expression was sombre and his illusion was far from the mess he looked. His eyes watched with the ghosts of tears as the fire extinguished from her ceremonial pyre and Frigga's spirit soared to the star-filled sky.

Loki turned his attention back toward her with a murderous snarl, gliding towards her with a clenched jaw. His eyes laid on the book with envy. Fury stood with a twinge of pain in her thigh. Anger pulsated through her veins. He had directed the beast to his mother, to Mila. For it, she would destroy something he loved, something of worth.

"Let it burn", He spoke sharply, watching her blue flame envelop the precious book. Fury tossed the flaming pages into the fireplace, walking from the room in silence. She had allowed him to see his mother's final journey, had it only been to destroy his hope. A book slid at her feet, almost tripping her. She picked it up.

"Pyrokinesis?", Fury raised a brow to the title of the book, asking the man who had dissipated back to his cell.

—

* * *

The night had treated Fury with no kindness, denying her sleep after hours of reading the book that was splayed on her lap. Her mind wandered to the slash on her outer thigh, feeling the sting of her enemy's blade. The pain deprived her of rest, no matter the fatigue of her mind. Her eyes closed for a moment, heavy from the day's disaster. They opened moments later, cursing the dripping of the bathroom tap. Fury dragged herself to the bathroom, dressed in a small singlet and fitness pants. Her hand struggled to the light switch, illuminating the small room in a lux of light that burned her groggy eyes.

"Argh", She groaned, glancing toward her bruised body in the mirror above the sink. She met the crimson ooze from her leg with a wet towel, weakening its sting. Her eyes hovered to the bath that splashed with murky water, arising her suspicion. She lowered herself to drain the claw foot tub, groaning at the light that flickered into fumes, leaving her in the darkness.

"What the..?", A shadow hovered above her, tall and mischievous. Her body turned to face it as hands gripped against her chest, throwing her into the black water. She fought against the hands that held her down against the base of the tub, breathing in the water that surrounded her. Fury could feel the air within her lungs dissipating within the lifelessness that condemned her to the watery grave.

The woman bolted forward in her sleep, gasping at the air that had been deprived from her lungs in a moment that had felt so real. She lowered herself back against the mattress, flickering her eyes to the small stream of light that had begun to grow against the night. It was early morning. She shut her eyes again, dreaming of her love that had been lost to the cruelty of mortality. He was tall with a short cut of brown hair that spiked towards the top. Dimples plagued his cheeks that intensified in his smile toward her. It had been twenty years since she had last seen him in the flesh. He died a military man. Like herself, he hadn't aged with time.

She hugged him with the sweet memories of his love, had it only been stretched into two years. What was once a sweet smile on his face turned into a sinister smirk as she parted from him. She flinched at the sound of his knife-brandishing from his side. Without warning he swiped at her, meeting her skin with the viciousness he portrayed. Fury yelped in pain clutching the slice in her stomach with her hand. She ran from him, into an uninhabited house that grew like a maze with every step she took. A woman blocked her path, her teeth bared with attack.

"Mum?", Fury watched the woman's fangs extend at the sight of her blood that dripped from her hands. Her face contorted into a snarl that darkened her eyes with black veins that surged through her eye sockets. Fury swayed in her wounded state, catching glimpses of the blonde woman approaching her. She felt the warmth of her mother's hands that held her close and the excruciating pain of her fangs piercing the flesh on her neck. The vampire hissed in pain, dry retching from Fury's fiery blood, brows knitted in confusion, in hurt. Black veins raised from her white skin like a disease, spreading with a vengeance that followed each breath. "Fury...why?..why have you done this", the vampire pleaded, her eyes glistening with fear for each throat incinerating cough. "Stop...please...Fury"

Fury jolted in her sleep, opening her eyes for reassurance that she had been dreaming. A breath of relief left her lungs, pulling the blankets over her chest for warmth.

"The monster awakens", A voice cut through the silence. She turned her sleepy gaze to the body that lingered on the left side of the bed, reading the book that he had given her. His eyes met the swirling black ink on her skin that ran from her wrist to her collar, creeping slightly up her neck. A sleeve of markings he didn't understand. She was exposed without her armour, so easily harmed in her state of rest that bared the seduction of her exposed skin. It would be so easy to kill her...to make her suffer

"And my, don't you look ravishing", He chided with a smirk, eyes meeting the pin hole scars against her slender neck. She felt underdressed in her tank and exercise pants that were covered by a thin layer of blanket, strewn across her body in her restlessness. Fury narrowed her eyes to the man, staring with a burning rage. He could manipulate thought. To find her secrets he would. In his boredom, he found her quite a distraction from the Asgardians who showed him no attention.

Not indulging in his games was something she had thrown to the wind. Fury smacked the book from his hands in rage, dissipating his illusion. She dressed in her long-sleeved undershirt with her snug fitting vest on top. Her hands struggled to pull such tight long pants over her leg without irritation to her cut. The boots she wore smacked heavily against the ground with purpose as she strode from the room. Loki appeared by her side with a grin.

"Oh, where are we going, with such haste? With such anger?", He spoke with false sincerity. His ghost disappeared before she ran into Thor and his friends in the golden hall.

"Fury?", His eyebrow raised in question, flickering his sight to her side.

"I thought I heard...Loki",

"You did", Fury replied, unyielding in the fast pace that led her down the stairs of the dungeon. Thor, Sif and Fandral followed her with curiosity. She walked straight to the God of Mischief. Fury was a gentle name for the hatred she felt for the loathsome creature.

"My dear Fury, You've brought me, friends. How kind", Loki smirked to the three who lurked behind her. "Oh no, you seem distraught. Was it something I did?",

Fury's eyes met the emerald eyes that belonged to the beast who taunted her, her finger hovered over the button in her palm. She pressed it, smiling as he grunted in a violent convulsion onto the ground. Her body knelt to his level on the floor.

"Oh no, you seem hurt. Was it something I did?"

"Ha!", Thor's laughter boomed through the dungeon, the others looked fearful, knowing too well Loki's affinity for chaos.

"Yes, laugh at the monster. Maybe she will spare you from a fate like her mother's.",

"Loki", Thor warned, raising his hand. Fury stood in motion with the beast in front of her, watching the calculated thoughts whirr across his expression of unfaltering mischief. Nobody dare move, their attention was captured by the scene. The blue eyes warned the God of mischief to taunt her no further for she would show him no mercy.

"We must go, there is plenty to discuss", Fury turned her back to Loki's piercing green eyes that sparked with rage. Thor nodded in agreement, motioning to his Sif and Fandral. The two ascended the stairs quickly. Fury stepped after them, halting to listen to the words that crept behind her.

"Was it not your blood that poisoned her, that left her in agonising pain...seeking mercy of her daughter who watched her choke against the ashes that burnt at her throat until her skin peeled away like charred parchment. But she was not dead no. Not until you drove that silver knife through her chest.",

Fury met Thor's eyes with a clenched jaw, resenting the wall that kept Loki safe from the repercussion of his words. Loki smiled, enjoying the rise he had gotten from her.

"Thor, you seemed confused. Did she not tell you of her vampire lineage?... Oh no...Dear Fury, I do hope you will forgive me",

"Please zap him again", Thor nudged her shoulder with comfort. The hulking man brought a smirk to her lips, pressing down on the button once more.

Loki groaned with annoyance toward the pain that had become familiar. The red-tipped knife that sent electric pulses through his veins was worth the pain, to see her suffer was a euphoric feeling. The same position on the floor reserved itself for him, twitching from the irritating zap.

"I am envious of your teeth. You know I wanted to be a vampire for the longest time...Although I found the eating people part quite disgusting.", Thor rattled on like the fool he was, uncaring or too daft to realise the weight of her secret. It was no use telling his idiot of a brother. Who would betray the God of Thunder? Who had the strength to match a demi-god? They walked back to the stairs, they would leave him once more.

"I don't eat people", Her voice was faint, irritated as her eyes flickered back to his cell with a stirring smirk.

"Yes well, it's better I abandoned that dream. I think it's better suited to Loki",

Did the mumbling Oaf ever halt in his speech to reflect on the idiocy of his mindless chatter? No. It needn't matter, he was loved either way. But not by the Vampire, she showed intellect. He knew it in her voice, saw it in her eyes. She wasn't all as foolish as she seemed.


	6. Tricks

**Tricks**

Trick: a cunning act or scheme intended to **deceive or outwit someone.**

* * *

"It is not my place to ask this of you Fury as the one assigned to Loki's removal...But as a protector between the realms and an Asgardian I must."

Thor spoke softly for the man with the booming voice, walking past the remaining guards who narrowed their eyes with suspicion.

"Can I help you?", Fury barked to the men, diverting their attention elsewhere. They rounded a corner to a secluded section of the tower, what once had been a food court of sorts. Thor's shoulder length hair shifted with the slight breeze that moved through the darkened room. He met her eyes in his pace towards an occupied table.

"Odin is blinded by grief, by hatred. He waits for the dark elves, for Malekith to return for Jane. In doing so he risks the lives of his people fighting creatures they cannot defend themselves against. He insists on needless death.",

"What would you have me do?", Fury asked with a raised brow, she didn't like what he was about to offer. Sif and Fandral sat at the table along with the gatekeeper and a bearded man who hadn't met her acquaintance. Thor stood with his hands planted against the table, offering her to sit. She did.

"We must move Jane off-world",

"The Bifrost has been shut down and the Tesseract locked away in a vault.", Sif spoke up from the opposing side of the table, seemingly concerned for the danger Thor would expose them to.

"There are other paths off Asgard, ways known only to a few", Heimdall, the gatekeeper revealed with caution. His orange eyes defined themselves within the darkness of his skin, the eyes that met Fury's blue with a lost recognition. She opened her mouth to speak.

"You want Loki to guide you off-world",

"No", The bearded man, Volstagg replied firmly. Thor breathed out, questioning his decision.

"Yes",

"He will betray you", Fandral warned with disbelief to the man who had been fooled by his brother to many times before.

"He will try",

"Well, what then? Your lovely mortal is being guarded by a legion of our Einherjar who will see you coming from miles away.", Fandral hounded.

"I won't be the one who comes for her", Thor matched eyes with Sif in a knowing glare.

"You thought I would leave Loki in your hands?", Fury intervened.

"No, I do not expect you too. You've become quite good at matching his mischief.", Fury smiled, exposing the small points of her two fang-like teeth. She liked what he had to say.

"What would you have me do?"

* * *

"Thor, after all this time and now you come to visit me. Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?", Loki sneered from inside his pristine cell.

"Loki, enough. No more illusions."

Loki's illusion dropped, showing Thor the devastation of his brother's loss. Furniture had been thrown, glass has been broken in anger. He himself was unkempt and painted with anguish.

"Now you see me, brother.", Thor walked to the other side of the cell, closer to Loki. "Did she suffer?"

"I did not come here to share our grief. Instead, I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

"Go on."

"I know you seek vengeance as much as I do. You help me escape Asgard and I will grant it to you, vengeance. And afterwards, this cell.", Loki chuckled.

"Does Fury know you utter these words?",

"She needn't know", The words painted a grin on Loki's lips.

"You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. What makes you think you can trust me?",

" I don't. Mother did. You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me and I will kill you."

"Hmm. When do we start?", Loki smiled with intrigue.

"Now", Thor lowered the veil that separated them, leading Loki from his cell.

"This is so unlike you, brother. So clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?",

"If you keep speaking I just might", Thor bit back, regretting his decision with each step.

"Oh no, It seems we've struck trouble",

Fury blocked the hall, her holsters at her side no longer holding her guns that pointed at them. Thor stopped in his stride, his eyes flickered to an escape but there was no other way than back.

"Well, what do we have here? My favourite duo", Fury chided with a murderously sharp voice, her steps loomed closer. "Beauty and the beast",

"Let us pass Fu-", A single shot echoed off the stone wall, an electric blast that rendered Thor a convulsing body on the ground. Loki smiled at the sight.

"An agonising death you say?", Fury challenged the God of Mischief, holstering her guns. He stepped over Thor with ease, summoning the twin daggers to his palms.

"So be it"

"Knives. How very Loki. I thought you better. You know, More...Mischievous",

Flame engulfed the red and black metal grips that she tore from her side, forming into two short swords. Fury span on her heel, meeting the God of mischief before his blade drove through her back. Her blue flame forced the daggers away from her, pushing them closer to his chest. He was entranced by the familiar electric blue that surged in a fiery blade. Fury opened her mouth, feeling like she had deflected that same tactic a thousand times before.

"You see, that move gets predictable",

"Oh my, dear Fury", Loki shoved her back, swiping at her with precision, a precision she matched greatly. He attacked and she blocked, her arms moved faster and with more skill than he had met in a long time.

"Predictable isn't quite what I'd call it", Loki lingered behind her, watching her fight the illusion for a few moments. She was good, but not good enough. Her blonde high tied hair swung violently in its mid-length that followed her anticipated action. He breathed out with boredom, he had come to the point where he no longer sought her death. He saw she was valuable, but she wouldn't let him leave, not on her own accord.

Green mist danced in his hand, lifting from his palm with a mind of its own. His eyes watched with awe at the woman who spun quickly casting her own energy blast toward him before his bolt struck her. Loki grunted with annoyance, slamming back against the paved floor. Her magic held the same metallic aftertaste as her electrified gadgets. His hand clutched the spot on his chest where she had struck him, growling deep within his throat.

Fury had fared no better than the trickster. "Argh", She groaned, her fingers clumsily fought to release the tightness of her vest against her chest, struggling for the zip. With no time at all the God of Mischief teleported himself to her, kneeling with his hand curled around her throat. He wanted to see the fear in her eyes when he took her life.

"My, you are fast, Monster. What a shame your death will be", Loki gritted his teeth at the smirk that plagued her face under the grasp of his hand. "You act so poised, yet you are the one kneeled before me", Fury smiled, exposing the two fangs that had intrigued him. Loki's eyes narrowed at her with irritation, he didn't notice her hand swipe the dagger at his side under her struggle against his strength. Fury jammed the blade with violence into his rib cage, his eyes widened with shock, pain. The pressure removed itself from her throat within seconds. He hadn't expected her to stab him. He thought it unethical to harm her prisoner. He was wrong.

"Loki", Fury leapt to her feet, unsuspecting of his violent reaction, he didn't want to die not again. His eyes conveyed the tortured memories that came from familiar pain. He had grown accustomed to pain, he expected it. He silently leaned back against the wall, calming the wave of unsettling fear. Fury had seen it before, she had known it herself. She approached the man kneeling before him to retrieve the blade that gushed a stream of crimson blood through his leather bound abdomen. "It's not real", Her words were lesser in their harshness while her hand grasped his shoulder and the other ripped out the dagger that crumbled in its illusion. "Look at this. Such care for your prisoner.", His voice called in his silk like tone that always seemed to linger behind her. He flicked his hand, launching his true dagger toward her, knelt by his illusion.

"If only you weren't so predictable", Fury's sharp tone at his ear allowed her to capture his wrists in handcuffs. Her hands frisked at his sides, moving to the front. Her fingers reached into his leather overcoat without permission or care. "I do not believe we are quite well enough acquainted for this", Loki questioned her hand against his side. Blue eyes bore on his with an expression of irritation, meeting the weapon hidden within his coat. His tallness against her 6 foot was something quite uncommon among the humans. Asgard seemed swarmed with hulking beasts. Loki's smirk lessened on her find. He found her too close for his liking. "Am I making you uncomfortable?", Fury questioned, sheathing his dagger at her side, chest to chest with the beast. The God of Mischief watched the small tips of her fangs extend from her mouth in a smile against her reddened lips. She had bested him in mischief. A victory she shouldn't become accustomed to.

"Well actually, compared to the latter option this is quite pleasant", His eyes looked her up and down with a sinister smile, baring his annoyingly perfect teeth. "Well then It seems a shame to do this to you", Fury ripped the dagger from her belt, tossing it behind the God of mischief. His eyebrows knitted, turning to see who had caught the weapon.

"The Guards are taken care of", Her voice called to Thor, who stowed the blade at his side with a smile on his face at his brother's surprise.

"All of them?", Thor asked with an impressed expression.

"I'm fast", Fury replied, smiling toward Loki's furrowed brows.

"What's wrong Loki, I thought you liked tricks?", The blonde haired man spoke with wit.

"I did enjoy the knife illusion. 'If only you weren't so predictable'.Ha. Classic", Thor mused with humour, impressed by Fury's skill.

"You've proven yourself more than worthy of this quest, Fury. After we meet with Sif. Meet Fandral at his ship. You have my word we will be there. He has Jane", Thor spoke, leading Loki toward their escape.

"No. You said nothing of her involvement.", Loki hissed. "I thought you'd like the challenge". Thor smirked happily, nudging his brother forward.

"Just don't kill my prisoner until he gets us off-world", Fury smirked, following next to the God of mischief. He narrowed his eyes toward her. "Say where is that oaf, Mila?",

"Will he be joining us?",

Fury met Thor's eyes clenching her jaw with irritation. "Is he always like this?", Her voice was questioning against Loki's appaling personality. "Oh, you don't know the half of it. One time he turned me into a frog. It was truly unpleasant. I looked ridiculous. He dubbed me 'Frog of Thunder'. I could have killed him",

A smile met Fury's lips at the story, Thor as a Frog. Loki grinned with admiration for his own brilliance. "That one was quite a masterpiece",

"You know, he used to transform into creatures he knew I loved and when I stopped to admire them he'd often bite me...or worse", Thor spoke above Loki's soft voice that drowned in comparison.

"That's gold", Fury chuckled, noting her mistake from Thor's furrowed brows. "Completely disturbed, but gold", She clarified.

"I used to set people on fire. Not enough to kill. Maybe a piece of clothing. Something to cause Mayhem. It was hilarious", Thor glanced at Fury with concern, unsure of how to respond.

"It sounds so",

He was confused, disturbed even at the confession. Loki smirked, "You see brother she posses-"

"Pyrokinesis" Fury talked above the God of Mischief. "Oh good, we are pretending I don't exist again", Loki breathed out, resenting the lack of attention.

"Fire. That's quite funny", Thor chuckled, narrowly avoiding the guard's ears that walked away from them.

"A vampire with a fire ability? Insult to injury I think", Fury smirked towards Thor's humorous words. He held a coveted attitude, one that many didn't possess, the ability to find light in the darkest of times. She admired that.

"You use it well, the hand you were dealt, Fury. I know many others who have fallen to the seduction of their sinister lineage",

Loki rolled his eyes with annoyance, Thor may have well just mentioned his name in his speech of valour. Like he would look to the monster for guidance on morality, a creature younger, lesser learned in sorcery and intellect.

"The monster does not have me impressed", Loki hissed in a snarl, resenting the cuffs against his hands. "Oh my dear Loki, however, will I go on?", She imitated his soft, alluring voice, meeting eyes with Sif who had successfully captured Jane.


	7. Escape

**Escape**

Escape: to break** free from confinement or control**

* * *

They walked into an open courtyard, surrounded by supporting pillars and pavement. Jane Foster strode forward from Sif's protection, thankful to be reunited with her love. Fury gripped onto Loki's arm behind his back with an iron grasp as Thor embraced his human. Jane parted from Thor, pointing to the God Of Mischief with recognition.

"You're-"

"I'm Loki, perhaps you've heard-", A smile met Fury's lips as the woman launched forward and slapped Loki with an audible vengeance.

"That was for New York",

"I like her", Loki commended Thor for his choice of Human.

"There they are! Take them. On my command.", An outside guard ran forth from the pillars, furnished with a spear in hand. Fury raised her hand, sending a burst of energy toward the man who would be followed by many more.

"I'll hold them off, take her", Sif called to Thor, queuing their escape.

"Thank you", Thor and Jane ran ahead. Fury nudged Loki forward, who had been halted by Sif's blade at his throat.

"Betray him and I'll kill you"

"It's good to see you too, Sif", Loki chuckled, walking quickly with Fury's grip on his arm, dragging him like a child. They met the bearded man, Volstagg by a crashed ship that partly destroyed the palace.

"I will give you as much time as I can.", Volstagg assured with confidence, shaking Thor's hand in a brotherly manner. "Thank you, my friend"

Fury's eyes examined the crashed ship with question.

"The plan has changed, Fury you must come with us", Thor called, ushering Jane into the ship. Volstagg stopped her in her bid to move Loki forward.

"If you even think about betraying him.." The bearded man warned with hardened eyes. It seemed a common occurrence. "You'll kill me? Evidently, there will be a line"

Volstagg allowed him to pass, nodding his head to Fury who handled the God at arm's length. She entered the dark ship, pushing her prisoner forward into the black abyss.

"You may release me", Loki snarled, watching the doors seal shut. "May I?", Fury questioned, releasing her hand from his arm. "The shackles?", Loki clarified. "They look quite good on you, I'll leave them", Fury took a seat, contently watching Thor assault the control panel of the ship. "I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing", Loki piped up, watching the guards approach the ship.

"They're on the ship!",

"I said how hard could it be?", Thor's voice buckled with panic.

"Well, whatever you're doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster."

"Shut up, Loki!"

Fury breathed out deeply, watching Thor frantically press buttons.

"You must have missed something"

"No, don't hit it, just press it gently."

"I am pressing it gently. It's not working!"

Fury rose from her seat, bursting forward from between the two bickering men, her finger pressed down gently on a flickering red light to the top right of the control panel. The ship roared to life.

"Could you have not done that sooner?", Loki snarled with impatience to his captor.

"But you were doing such a stand-up job", Fury retorted as the ship started to sway with motion. Thor flickered a glance to the woman with thanks.

"She is in no way obligated to help us, Loki. You owe her your thanks.", The black haired god met the blue eyes that wandered back to her seat with a sarcastic smirk. "Thanks".

"Look, why don't you let me take over, I'm clearly the better pilot.", Loki teased, hovering over his brother.

"Is that right? Well, out of the two of us which one can actually fly?"

Fury watched Asgard pass by the window of the ship in a blur, unexpecting of Jane's illness that plummeted her body into the floor of the ship.

"Woah", The blonde haired woman swiftly met the human before her head crashed against the hard floor.

" Oh, dear. Is she dead?", Loki grimaced at the disgusting human with a snarl.

"Jane.", Thor snapped his head to Fury as Jane raised her head with weakness.

"I'm okay."

A struggled grunt left Fury's body that launched forward with the motion of the ship slamming against a tower, breaking it apart. Thor immediately turned to his brother.

"Not a word."

Smaller Asgardian ships trailed behind them, dodging the debris.

"Now they're following us.", The ship swayed under the fire of Asgardian guns. "Now they're firing at us".

"Yeah, thank you for the commentary, Loki! It's not at all distracting!", Thor grimaced in his words, decapitating a stone monument in his distraction.

Fury stood in her seat, strapping stabilising boosters to her boots. Her hands flexed against the gloves that held the same technology as Midgardian's Iron man suit. Without a powerful source of energy, they would last only a few minutes in flight, hopefully giving her enough time.

"Well done, you just decapitated your grandfather. You know this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that. Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!"

Loki watched the blonde haired woman who approached him with her usual rough demeanour, bringing his wrist shackles to his front with a harsh tug. Her fingers gripped tightly against the leather tunic on his chest, the other hand secured her weapons at her side.

"You can fly right?", Her voice raised suspicion in his mind."Oh, no", He warned with anger, but she didn't wait for his permission, pushing him out the door of the ship.

It was a straight fall onto a target that looked the size of a coin underneath them. Her boosters struggle to stabilise them in the harsh wind that tossed them about with a wild ferocity. "Argh", Fury tossed Loki onto Fandral's ship with effort, landing moments after, crashing into the God of Mischief. "Ugh", Fury hissed, her temple bounded against a metallic object that sat on his chest, sending a pulsing pain through her skull. Aches burned through her body, none worse than the side of her brow.

"I would much appreciate it if you would get off", Loki's voice reverberated through his chest that ached by the sharpness of her shoulder.

"Shut the fuck up, Loki!", her plea was laced in pain, pausing in a bid to calm the dizziness that overcame her. Her hand reached for the metal object that had hurt her. "What the hell is that and why is it attached to you?!", She didn't put it past him to have a concealed weapon stashed on his person.

"Those would be your chains", A smile met his lips, basking in the happy coincidence. Fury's eyes shot him a warning glare, removing the weight that pressed against his chest.

"I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki", Fandral commented with a smile, meeting eyes with Fury who moved to her knees with a delayed motion. "And the beautiful Fury, why it is always a pleasure", Fandral held out his hand in aid, lifting her with a gentle tug. "Has anyone ever told you that you resemble the Greek goddess of beauty Aphrodite?",

Loki rolled his eyes with disgust, dismayed by Fandral's poor attempt of allure. "Coincidentally I was going to ask you the same question", Fury spoke with delay, unsure of the fine man. She grimaced at the drip of blood that formed from the small nick next to her brow from Loki's shackles. "This usually works", Fandral breathed out, motioning for her to sit. He was kind, impulsive and not to mention a beauty of a man, yet he didn't impress her. "Maybe it's you", Loki shot back with a smirk.

"Or maybe she had already found a suitor", Fandral's eyes wandered to the God of Mischief, a smile formed at his lips. The accusation was incoherently false, it forced a grimace on Loki's face, watching Fandral tenderly aid the blood that seeped from Fury's skull.

"It seems your heart will be easily swayed", Fandral commented, meeting the smirk on Fury's lips. The discomfort he gave Loki made her mood brighten quickly, crossing her arms over her chest. His once taunting smile dulled into a forced smirk. He tried to see the humour in Fandral's comment but it was nonexistent.

"And what could you offer me above the God of Mischief?", Loki's eyes widened with question."I beg your pardon?",

"Not now darling", Fury silenced him with an in-concealable smile, following on Fandral's antics.

"Sanity", She thought about Fandral's offer with a dramatic pause, countering with her own,

"Sorcery", She shrugged off his poorer bid.

"Sanity", He offered once more.

"A Palace", She shot back.

"Sanity", A laugh escaped her throat, pursing her lips in a struggle to think of another redeemable quality while Fandral wiped gingerly at her cut, hovering closer to her face with each word.

"An army", Blue eyes bore closer to her face, unyielding in his quest. "For what enemies?". Fury halted his advance, holding his broad chest at bay.

"Telepathy". Fandral smiled, revealing his two dimples in his cheeks.

"I'm nice", He spoke in a seductive voice, breathing softly against her cheek, his hand stroked the side of her temple, tracing around the source of blood.

"But he's the God of Mischief". Fury warned Fandral away with a piercing stare, lessening his smile in her seriousness. The ghost of a smile plagued Loki's expression, she had rendered the fool speechless. Concern was a quality that Fandral hadn't shown easily, but he did so now. She was indeed a marvel.

"I am yet to be convinced, beautiful Fury", Fandral regained his stirring smile, steering the ship to the left. "Give me time, you'll see Loki for what he is",

"Which is?", Loki breathed out with annoyance.

"The God of Lies and Deceit, someone worthy of the prison that will contain him. A monster", Fandral gritted his teeth at the spiteful words. Loki was silent. He knew what he was. He hoped he was the only one who thought it. Evidently not.

"Monsters aren't real", Fury breathed out, meeting the Emerald eyes that glistened with hurt. He was surprised, to say the least, did she not think it? Not after he had manipulated her dreams nor threatened her with death? The word bothered her, he knew it did when he branded her as such. Monster was the word he would use if he were her.


	8. Faith

**Faith**

Faith: complete trust or confidence in someone or something

* * *

"Argh", A collective groan grew in the metal ship as Thor landed roughly against the floor, holding Jane in one arm and his hammer in the other. His blue eyes met the crimson stain against Fury's pale skin, hardening toward the dark haired man at the back of the craft.

"Loki, what did you do?!",

"If I may interject", Loki widened his eyes to Thor's approaching rage.

"My landing was about as smooth at yours", Fury halted the God of Thunder with her hand against his chest.

"You lied to me, I'm impressed", Loki commended, moving so Thor could lay Jane down. Fury stood next to Fandral, watching the argument with peeled eyes.

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now, do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway", Loki took over the controls, aiming them toward a mountainside.

Fandral tied off the rope he had concealed under the secrecy of the ship's padded seats. His silver armour glistened under the sun that poured down on him in a stream of light. He was silent, focused. Like there was writing against the colourful sky that only he could see. She liked when he was silent. Albeit his words were brave and reckless to say, she found him increasingly less irritating than Loki. Fandral rebounded back to her like she were a gravitational pull that had him in her grasp. He raised his hand then lowered it again, struggling in his words that seemed to elude him.

"If we are to die, I cannot do so without knowing". A deafening silence lay still on the ship, eyes watched the towering man capture Fury's lips in a desperate kiss.

An uprising of anger swept through The God Of Mischief, settling in his chest. She was his plaything and god help whoever touched his toys. Fandral breathed out dramatically, his hand lingered on her cheek. It was a sensation that was ripped away with the flick of Loki's wrist, violently projecting Fandral off the side of the ship in a wisp of green energy.

"Is he dead?", Loki smiled, ridding his presence from the witless oaf. Fury met Thor's stare with a matching expression of question. Loki's aggression was shown with a plain expression, something he had become fluent with. But why? Why had he reacted at all?

Fury's eyes widened to the rope that had been ripped from Fandral's grasp in the harshness of Loki's trick. Her feet rushed to the edge of the ship, jumping after the man without thought.

Loki stood to watch the blonde haired woman with peeled eyes, she was indeed impressive but nonetheless stupid. "If you'll excuse me", Loki pushed in front of Thor who would so courageously go after her. "Loki", Thor warned, seeing his brother disappear before his eyes.

Fury had caught Fandral with only a few seconds to spare before his death became more reason for their banishment. She tossed him onto an enemy ship that fired mercilessly at them. The boosters on her boots struggled to fight against the vicious wind that sought havoc upon her.

"For Asgard!", Fandral called, mounting the ship that followed.

"Argh", Fury grunted at the pain that came at the mercy of the rounds fired by an unmanned ship, knocking her from the sky.

She didn't fall.

Her eyes widened to the green mist that cradled her gently, swirling around her in its protection, creating a platform to stand on.

"My dear Fury, you must learn to protect yourself", Loki's voice spoke sharply, holding off the oncoming bullets with a veil of green energy. She fell to her knees, clutching her armoured chest with breathlessness. He saw the charred mark on her right side where she had been struck with but not wounded by an energy blast, knitting his eyebrows with confusion.

"Time to go", He lowered himself to grasp her hand. Through her veins, he felt an overwhelming increase in the energy that protected them, yet it was his curse by doing so, to feel her anguish. Her expression questioned his unblinking stare, she watched his face contort with pain at the feeling of her skin. Too disorientated to stop him. His armour raised in his trance, dissipating his leather-bound appearance for his golden horned helmet and armoured plates against his chest and shoulders.

He felt threatened, angry. Then suddenly nothing.

"My, you are a mystery", Loki breathed out, An interest piqued in his voice, cocking his brow with an idea. And what an idea it was. She didn't like it already, yet the feeling of his power sent excitement down her spine. She stood with his slender fingers softly at her wrist.

* * *

They were surrounded by Asgardian ships that fired upon them in orange shots from the unmanned crafts. The fin-shaped crafts created a circle of black around them, each ship with a more devastating gun than the next. Escape seemed the least of their problems. It was loud. Deafeningly loud.

"Set them on fire", Loki's silky voice entered her mind above the deafening shouts and bullets that bounded off Loki's shield. She wouldn't have heard him had he opened his mouth to speak. She didn't trust him. It was clear between them. But she found no other way out.

An incredible sense of power surged through her veins, euphoric in the sight of the eight ships exploding into dust from the motion of Fury's hand. Loki's eyes expanded at the sight, he had expected one or two ships to catch flame. Unparalleled was their combined strength and with her, he could be unbeatable.

An unsure smile curled at her lips that matched the excitement in Loki's eyes. What he could do with such power would be infinite. He watched her smile, envious of her innocence to dark sorcery. His magic was all that she had shown such enthusiasm for. It was the only occasion in which he had been responsible for her awe.

In the swiftness of a blink, he moved them back to Thor, releasing her wrist into the safety of the silver ship. She was weakened from the hit that burned in her chest, laying against the spare bench with a growl of pain.

"Did you find what you were looking for?", Thor's hand gripped at his shoulder, violently directing him back toward the ship's steering. The God of Thunder had watched Loki's show, anger built in his chest from it. He used his power to hound Fury, to find her secrets.

"Loki!", Thor hissed, unbelieving that his brother was to steer them through the small crevice in the treacherous mountainside.

"If it were easy everyone would do it."

"Are you mad?"

"Possibly."

"Argh", Loki heard Fury groan, Opening her eyes to see the once blue sky fade to darkness. He had found a portal of sorts that shook their craft violently before it settled, hovering above the dead ground with a whirring hum. Her body shot up to overlook the desert surrounds, allowing Thor to pass by her in her stride to the pointed front end of the silver ship.

"Ta-Da!", Loki's childlike excitement shined through in his brilliance. He had done it again. His brother didn't share his happiness.

Thor tended to Jane, touching gingerly around her face with a love he had shown only a few. He was worried, a feeling of pressure build deep within his chest, waiting for the moment when she would be safe, at home, away from his chaos. Loki's eyes swept over the human, she was weak and pitiful. He thought his brother smarter than to fall for something so fleeting. Fury noticed it, his lingering stare that sparked the mischief within his eyes.

"Do it and those shackles will be the last of your problems", Her voice was pained in its tone from the bullet she had deflected in just time, yet it left its sting at her side from the force. Though her voice was weak the warning in her electric blue eyes was not. Did she think herself mischievous without the chaos? What had changed? Or was it that the subject of humiliation would be the impeccable Thor. Beloved by all.

"And what do you suggest, dear Fury?", His smile overcame the bitter anger that swirled in his mind like a disease he couldn't overcome.

A dead breeze swept Fury's dishevelled side fringe, lifting the layers in a wave-like motion. Blood stained her once pristine locks of silver with a faded red at the temple of her skull. "Sit down and most importantly shut up", She voiced with effort, like he were a misbehaving child.

Silence overcame the company, if only for a second. Loki's eyes searched the cracks in the earth as they passed by, his hand tapped gingerly against the metal with a small clinking sound. The sound was infuriating to Fury. Her eyes narrowed with intolerance toward the God's side profile that ignorantly tapped away. A small beam of light illuminated the bewitching beauty of his razor sharp cheek bones and jaw line that complimented the symmetry of his nose which curved almost at a point and matched the sculpted point of his chin. His midnight black locks had become dishevelled in their flight, bringing shorter strands of hair to the ridge of his brow. He was a beautiful pain.

She didn't ask for the object in his hand, knowing he would never yield it. Instead, she swiftly reached forward and swiped it from his fingertips, like he expected her to. A simple look at the object forced a snarling growl to consume her chest with a hollowing realisation. He had pocketed the grey protection charm from around her neck and she hadn't even known it.

"Did Frigga know that the fire within your blood is poisoning you like it did your mother? Did she know it when she trained you to be the one to put down her beloved son? That you may die before you got the chance?!", A growl escaped his voice, taunting closely to Fury's face. She may have fooled Thor and Odin but not him. He had known it from the moment he touched her skin, in her weakness all sorts of secrets came flooding out. He wouldn't have lowered himself to touch the monster otherwise.

"Yes", Her answer was simple yet it cut him with the sharpness of her blade. Fury backed away from the breath against her cheek, breaking the murderous stare he held towards the blue eyes. She leaned against the side of the ship with the most distance she could find, basking in the silence once more.

"You think a monster can defeat a God?",

Fury snapped her sights back to Loki, her eyes blatantly glaring at the hand cuffs at this wrist then back to him with a smirk. "Evidently",

"You two were impressive with the guard ships, I think it wise to join your forces", Thor intervened with crossed arms, overhearing the conversation.

"Do not trust him to not betray you. Leave the sorcery in my hands", Fury spoke without delay, thinking his idea ridiculous. Loki's face shrivelled in mockery.

"You think you know of sorcery? A goat is trained with more grace",

"Then, as a show of goodwill teach her what she need know and she will free your hands", Thor smirked, meeting Loki's cocked eyebrow. He saw within Fury the willingness to learn that Loki had once shown. She held the qualities Frigga had wanted within Loki but had failed to see. A means to an end.

"Typical all knowing Thor, her strength lies within fire manipulation. Do you see me setting things on fire? No? I wonder why that is. Perhaps she doesn't hold the same power",

"Enough, Loki." Thor silenced his brother's mockery, disheartened by his disability to grow. "It will be you, Fury, you will be our source of illusion", Fury bowed her head in understanding. She was good but she wasn't Loki.

"Then you will die", Loki spoke bitterly.

"Teach her or shut up Loki, it is you who cannot be trusted!", Thor growled with defeat. He despised that he couldn't trust his own brother to come through in the end, that he would be let down once more. That his love be unrequited.

Silence weaved it's way through the ship once more, leaving the angry tension where it stood.

"Fury, mother told me you were a mercenary before a protector of the two worlds, what was that like?", Thor drew his attention to the blonde woman who breathed out with discomfort, shuffling her boots against the floor. Loki rolled his eyes, did Thor really care about the vampire?

"You don't know what a mercenary is", Loki intervened, proving his intellect above his brother's. Fury raised her hand, kindling a blue flame with a threatening glare toward the man who tested her greatly. "Enough from you", She hissed, unsure if her fire would even injure a frost giant. He closed his mouth with a smirk.

"I was a finder of criminals that hid within the galaxy. For a price I would return them to whoever asked, dead or alive.", Fury's hands trailed over her holsters of various weaponry. "Hence all of this", She explained with a sigh, picking at the buckle around her thigh.

"Why the weapons, you seem well learned enough in sorcery?", Thor's question piqued the interest of Loki, who couldn't resist an opportunity for chaos.

"You see, dear Fury here is slowly succumbing to the fire in her veins. It seems she holds a vampire's affinity to die by flame. It is ironic indeed", He smiled, noting the pity that swarmed his brother's face.

"I am 300 years old Thor, and I have lived a life surrounded by the love of my friends and family. Don't show me your pity" Fury spoke with a sharp tone of anguish. She was bitter on the subject.

Thor's eyebrows knitted with thought, she looked young, no more than 25 in human years, she had more life to give. More than her body would allow. It saddened him to think that it was her curse to die when his brother who had been nothing but a chaotic disaster lived on at over 1000 years of age.

"The monster's morality is outstanding", Loki softly clapped his hands together with a smile. "You could learn something from it", Thor surrendered back to Jane, followed by his brother.

"You cannot tell me that you are mad because Fury lied to you, that mother lied to you. The God of mischief.", Thor gripped his brother's shoulders in a low tone.

"Frigga found someone to put me down like a diseased beast. To reforge the son she had claimed to love so much!", Loki hissed back in return.

"Did you leave her any choice?! It was Fury or an axe...You think you alone were loved by mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust!"

"Trust. Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die!"

"What help were you in your cell?"

"Who put me there? Who put me there?!", Thor grabbed Loki with a deep burning rage.

"You know damn well! You know damn well who!", The God of Thunder raised his fist in fight, "She wouldn't want us to fight.", his hand lowered by his side.

"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked.", Loki's comment forced a smile on his brother's face.

"I wish I could trust you."

"Trust my rage"


	9. Subterfuge

**Subterfuge**

Subterfuge: deceit used in order to achieve one's goal.

* * *

The flight across the blackened planet was long and treacherous, it had since been accompanied by an anxious silence, that awaited the fury of the dark elf, Malekith. He wanted the virus that spread within Jane's body. Her human form was unable to bear such power, it weakened her. If their plan didn't work, it would kill her.

Fury ran her hand through her hair, tying back her blonde locks into a high position that resembled the spraying of a water fountain in the fashion her mid-length hair fell in layers. It was neater than it had been before, less dishevelled from her fight. Her eyes met Jane, who at that moment, awakened from her slumber with widened eyes. Everyone was still, all certain after seeing her black eyes that it was not Jane that rose, glancing ahead.

"Malekith", Her words were unmistakable, forcing Thor to lower the ship to the ground, watching an alien ship land in the distance. It was him. The Dark Elf.

The ship shook slightly with their soft landing that drove the pointed front end into the dirt. Jane blinked, summoning her brown eyes back into her eye socket. She was awake.

"It's time", Thor's voice spoke in a hushed tone, leaping out of the ship onto the hard soil. Fury followed his lead, dropping off the opposite side of the ship, offering aid to the human, who took it. Jane hadn't seen Fury up close, she hadn't looked into the electricity that swirled like a moving picture in her eyes nor earned a smile to see her pointed fangs. She stared, her eyes widening at the white points that extended Fury's smirk. Jane released Fury's gloved hand like it were fire.

"...What are you?"

"I'm a vampire", Fury smiled wickedly, encouraging the scurrying steps that hurried toward Thor.

"She thought you a monster, how tragic", Loki's voice taunted with a feeling of hilarity, stepping from the ship.

"What is the point of being a monster if you can't bask in the fear that grows in someone's eyes when you show them your true form?", Fury mocked with her plastered smile that tore him down a peg. He glared, unable to reply with an insult.

"It is quite a euphoric feeling", He spoke, knowing the feeling well. Her brow raised with surprise.

She had promised to release his shackled hands, it was a promise he hadn't forgotten, raising his hands with a smile.

"If I told you the condition of your freedom would you listen?", She hesitated in releasing him, uncertain of Thor's trust for the man. Loki's face morphed into an impatient smirk that tested their lack of time. Was she serious?

"Probably not. But do go on. I'll ask Malekith to bring us some tea while you lay down your rules.", Loki hissed with impatience, meeting her warning glare."Perhaps he'll stop his attack for the mighty Fur-", "Shut the fuck up and listen, you insufferable pain in the ass", Fury cut his sarcasm short. She silenced him with the harshest words any Asgardian had ever spoken in his direction. She dared to speak to him with such disrespect. He opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off.

"Thor expects you to surprise us all one day by perhaps saving someone without an ulterior motive, or doing something selfless to prove that his love for you wasn't wasted time. I expect you to do the opposite because you are predictable in that you'll never change. Always a villain but a hero in your own mind. Always defiant in that your actions were the result of someone else's cruelty.",

"You may remember that I saved you from a long fall", Loki intervened with narrowed eyes.

"And may I ask how the bullet from a gun that was facing a vastly different direction at the time managed to strike me out of the sky? You did it for you", A growl escaped her throat, she was angry now. He smirked, impressed by her ability to leave him speechless.

"Frigga thought you better...Be better", Fury's voice was low as she unlocked his handcuffs with an audible click, stowing them at her side.

"And I suppose she had a grand time, teaching you to destroy her misfortune, the abomination she had called son", Loki taunted her with hurt in his eyes.

"You weren't her son!", Fury could almost see his heart break at her statement, an action he hid under his scowl. "But I'll be damned if she wasn't your mother". She calmed his anger, motioning him to walk after his brother with the flick of her wrist. She watched his leather-bound figure stride in front of her with no reply. A victory in itself. He walked with no complaint until Malekith's ship came into view. His gaze turned to her with hesitance.

"Your fire will aid you more efficiently without your swords as a conduit. Fool them with the motion of your hands. Use your mind to set them on fire", His words were short and unwillingly spoken to his captor. Strengthening her was an idiotic action...or was it?

* * *

"Alright, are you ready?", Thor turned to Jane and the rest with trepidation in his voice. His eyes lingered on Loki, who whispered to Fury.

"I am", Loki piped up with energy. "You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed.",

Fury gripped onto Loki's right arm with Thor on the other as a guard.

"Yeah, possibly", Thor breathed out, gripping tighter on Loki's arm, making him squirm.

"What you still don't trust me, brother?", The God Of Mischief acted insulted by the guards at his side.

"Fury", Thor motioned for her to release his brother. She did so with caution.

"Would you?", He released him.

"No, I wouldn't", Without thought or reason, Loki summoned a dagger into his palm, driving it into his Brother's chest. Fury leapt at him, falling through his illusion.

"If only I weren't so predictable!", He swung his hand from behind her, motioning a wave of green mist to launch her down the hill they stood on.

"Thor! No!", Fury could hear Jane's screams of horror as her body slammed into the hard dirt, taking her breath from her lungs. She struggled to move against the pain that rattled her body. The earth shook with vigour at Thor's hulking body that landed only a few feet away from her. Fury clenched her jaw with rage as the beast's boot pushed her buckling body back to the dirt with a small puff of dust, pinning her shoulder against the ground. Without her hands, he knew her to be useless.

"You really think I cared about Frigga, about any of you?", Loki growled, splitting into an illusion. He launched his boot into Thor's stomach with might, "All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!"

Thor raised his hand summoning his hammer, Mjolnir, just as it was in reach Loki laid down his blade, detaching Thor's hand from his body. He screamed in pain, clutching at his limb. Fury tore her eyes away from the mess for only a second. Jane rushed over to Thor, stopped by Loki's weaselly hands that grabbed her before she could reach him. Loki viciously dragged the human to face Malekith and his dark elves.

"Malekith, I am Loki of Jotunheim and I bring you a gift!", Loki violently threw Jane at Malekith's feet. "I ask only one thing in return, a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."

Malekith turned to his advisor, the horned beast from the dungeon. Their eyes darted between herself and Loki, muttering words she couldn't understand. Malekith moved toward Thor who cradled his hand in agony, his beady blue eyes watched the God squirm. Fury hadn't noticed the half of the creature's face that had been burned like a marshmallow under fire, she had only wished it had been her that had done so.

"Look at me!", The white-skinned creature forced Thor's eyes to watch as he ripped the red energy source from Jane's veins, lifting her into the sky. The God of Mischief's footsteps inched toward Fury, who laid, pinned against the dirt by his illusion.

"Loki, now!", Thor yelled, queuing the God Of Mischief to dissipate the dying illusion of his brother. Fury shot up from her lifeless state, meeting the emerald eyes that hovered above her. His hand grasped hers with urgency. Fury's un-gloved fingers set in motion a stream of fire toward the Red Aether. A blast of blue and green energy emitted from the palms of the sorcerer's hands on command, reflecting off the Aether, that seemed to absorb their magic. It followed Malekith while he retreated back to his ship. They were close, so close to destroying it.

"Argh!", Fury's knees buckled at the pain that shot through her side, she gripped Loki's hand viciously, unwilling to cease their combined strength. She had only been stabbed two times before, each on separate occasions. It sucks.

She heard Thor strike the creature that had jammed it's spear into her waist, a dark elf. It grunted before meeting it's end.

Fury propped herself up with her hand as a stabilising beam against her savoured waist. A beam that kept her tall and unyielding. Whatever strength that lay within her was launched at the red entity that mocked them with its invincibility.

Loki flickered his eyes to the blood that trickled down her waist, clenching his jaw with thought. The Aether swirled in a fast-paced pattern of escape, buckling in a paralytic state. A loud explosion levelled the dark world in dust, their eyes couldn't see if the red source of power had been destroyed. They waited. Nothing moved. Nothing spoke. It was deadly silent.

The dust settled and among it, they saw red shards scattered over the grey dirt, they were still at first but soon jolted toward Malekith like he were a magnet. Fury summoned the fire in her veins, grimacing at the stinging against her waist. She shot her blue flame toward the blonde haired creature. It was absorbed. She tried again. It didn't dent him. Once more she jolted a powerful blast with little hope kindling in her. Malekith absorbed the Aether, stumbling slightly at the blue energy that had bumped him with the viciousness of a toddler.

Had they not enough power to destroy the Aether at full strength they couldn't destroy it with Fury weakening.

"Enough, Fury", Loki released her hand, urging her to cease her flame. She did so with question.

Malekith regained his stature, his sight rested on the man who had tricked him. Revenge would be his. A red burst of fire swirled in the elf's hand, directing it toward the God Of Mischief.

Loki's eyes didn't stray from Fury to see the crimson light. His jaw clenched in thought toward the blood that spilt down her side, he hadn't the time to see the red fire. She did see it, but what she thought to do was madness. It was something Loki most definitely did not deserve. Yet, had she couldn't allow him to die. Her downfall. It is why she viciously shoved him to the side. Her palm raised as the red fire struck her, vibrating in her veins. A feeling most powerful. Her hand quivered with a throbbing pain before it absorbed the magic, throwing it back to the ship that flew out of sight. The magic lingered against the cloudy, amber sky that seeped with a small amount of light. She followed it's trail, seeing it disappear behind the clouds. Loki watched with wide eyes, stumbling in the viciousness that she pushed him back with. Disbelief struck him, it was an unlikely action from his captor.

"...What?", Loki's lips pursed together in a questioning look of confusion, anger. He feared her more powerful than he thought. She caught her breath before answering him, clasping her hand at her side that was stained in red.

" 'Fire cannot undo fire' ", Fury quoted the book on Pyrokinesis, watching his eyes widen and eyebrows raise.

"That is so unbelievable misinterpreted", He smirked, resting his idea that she may have been somewhat learned in sorcery.

"Yet here you are", She groaned in pain, noting the dark elves that had appeared on the field in attack. "I won't hold out for a thank you".

Loki's eyes rolled in his skull, breathing out a defiant breath. Fury eyed the tall, black-haired man as he summoned swirling green energy within his palm, it engulfed her in a blanket of mist then dropped back to the earth without warning. When the veil fell, Loki was gone and so was her wound at her side. Surprised was a word that seemed to come to mind.


	10. Saviour

Savior

A person to save someone from danger or difficulty.

* * *

Fury's eyes swept the dust-ridden field that lingered with the fallen bodies of the dark elves. Thor had protected Jane valiantly, turning the responsibility to Loki when the time came to fight. She saw the God of Mischief standing over the human in a protective stance, something most unusual to see. He towered over her smaller stature, her jeans and simple grey jacket where seemingly out of place against his leather-bound body. Fury's eyebrows knitted in an utmost perplexed expression, clicking a new set of bullets into her black guns in the same motion. The smooth alloy sat comfortably in her grasp, a feeling much more familiar than sorcery.

Her aim was impeccable and her movement unbelievably fast. The electrified rounds echoed a satisfying clink that tore through the elf's silver armour.

Bang. A headshot and a bullet through the chest in two squeezes of her fingers. Two elves fell. She swiftly spun on her heel, meeting the creature that had sneakily appeared behind her, holding a vortex weapon, designed to zap her to another dimension. Her bullet met it's skull before the masked face could utter a squeak. Another appeared just as quickly as she had rid herself of the previous creature. Her finger pressed down on the trigger, hearing a familiar click of emptiness. The elf raised his weapon, receiving a hard wack from the butt of her gun, it stumbled back. She placed her guns back by her hips and curled her hands into a fist around her swords that flamed to life at her side. A yelp escaped the creature's mouth, grasping at the pain that burned through its chest, rendering the beast to ashes.

The horned beast from the dungeon entered the fight, shaking the earth under the might of his feet. It's rippling arms flexed with strength, tearing a boulder from the earth. Fury watched with awe, unconsciously drawing her steps toward the beast as he launched the huge rock toward Thor, who had been battling countless enemy attacks. He tore through hoards in the motion of swinging his hammer, capturing the white-skinned elves in blue electricity before he beat them into the ground.

"At least you won't be disappointed when you die by his hand", Loki's low tone chided with humour mid-battle, seeing her eyes light up toward the horned beast that drew closer. Fighting the creature gave her something of an exciting feeling. A smile plagued her expression, running her tongue along the outline of her top row of teeth with concentrating eyes that sized up the horned beast. Loki cut through an elf with ease, eager to see Fury battle the beast. A ghost of an adorning smile played on his lips. She was quite deranged.

"Hey, Spike!", Fury met the beast's orange eyes that tore away from attacking Thor. The feeling of rage in her veins tainted her better judgement. A move most dangerous. She didn't distract the monster with guns nor blades. In her mind, she imagined the creature writhing in pain from the blue flame that consumed him. Fire licked at the creature's feet, rapidly climbing the horned monster. His eyes stared lifelessly toward her, oblivious to the fire that had begun to consume him. In his hand he clicked open a vortex weapon, tossing it at her with an unmatched swiftness.

Fury widened her eyes to the alien weaponry, cursing the beast who had grown half a mind. The grenade-like weapon had missed it's mark, rolling closer to Loki and Jane. Thor tore her away from the creature's rage by her waist, smacking the monster with his hammer. Thor flew them toward the vortex that had begun to suck Jane towards its core. Before Thor could save her Loki pushed the woman away from the vortex, becoming caught in it himself.

"I'll get him", Fury spoke without thought, eyeing the creature that followed them. "Destroy Spike", She dropped from Thor's side, picking up a powerful running speed to avoid being sucked into the vortex. She bit back the bitterness in her chest that wanted to let Loki die. To watch him dissipate into nothing. She wanted to. She wanted to let him burn.

Fury dove, knocking the God from the suction of the vortex in just time. Her shoulder drove into his waist upon impact with the grey dirt, forcing a groan from his lips.

"Pathetic", The woman groaned with wit, rolling back against the dirt with breathlessness. He narrowed his eyes with warning, his hair dishevelled in a fashion that made him look like he belonged to an odd sort of 80's rock band.

"Predictable and pathetic all in one day. I truly am blessed", Sarcasm seeped from his tone, meeting her blue eyes on the ground. He smiled toward the woman. An unsettling smile that didn't show a sinister nor conniving plan beneath it. There was a light in his eyes, different than the clouded distance that played within the emerald orbs. He enjoyed the chaos that surrounded them, finding solace within its unstructured havoc. Fury reluctantly smirked at his comment, finding humour in his sarcasm.

"Thor!", Jane's pleading scream brought Fury back to the battle, her eyes snapped to the blonde haired man who had become beaten down by the hulking creature. Loki disappeared at her side, reappearing behind the beast, jamming a dark elf's blade through his chest. The horned monster turned toward the God of Mischief in a gut retching swiftness, freezing the dark-haired trickster with surprise. Hulking hands gripped Loki, impaling him onto the blade that protruded from the beast's chest.

"No!", Thor's voice echoed through the dark world, watching his brother fall to the ground. Fury grimaced at the sight, sucking in the air between her teeth, drawing closer to Loki. A smile curled at his lips that trembled with agony, she noticed the vortex weapon that he'd attached to the blade protruding from the beast. It destroyed the monster in a brief explosion.

"No. No, no, no! Oh, you fool, you didn't listen!", She heard Thor's voice plead with desperation. What was she to do? Drag Loki's body to the prison world? No. She breathed out with procrastination, knowing she was to regret her decision that went against everything she had ever done. Honour was a part of her vocabulary that was covered in dust and ruin. Honour was not held for creatures like herself. She knew it in her heart that if she abandoned her quest like she had been forewarned to, she would die a coward. A villain.

"No!", The God Of Thunder sparked a clap of lightning in his grief, sobbing over his brother's body. Fury motioned for Jane to stay put, kneeling next to Loki's motionless corpse. His skin glistened a light blue colour in his frost giant form. He was dead. Her jaw clenched in trepidation of her idiotic thought, placing her hand against Thor's upper arm, her voice was low, understanding.

"I will return him to Asgard",

"How?", His shattered voice was devastating. His blue orbs glistened with tears that reddened his once clear eyes. They stared into her with a glimmer of hope and she squeezed his arm with a tighter force than before. He was simply beautiful. At heart and in appearance. She felt obligated to try to aid someone so pure of being.

"Leave it to me", Fury reassured him, letting her expression fall to uncertainty when Thor moved away, allowing her to handle his beloved brother's body. She nodded toward Thor and Jane with a stone expression that shifted back to the blue-skinned corpse. Game on.

"Fury, Thank you", Thor smile weakly, knowing she didn't break her own morals easily. His hand gripped her shoulder with reassurance. Unlearned as he was in sorcery, he believed she had the strength alone to utilize her power, that Loki hadn't contributed as much as she had thought.

Fury closed her eyes, grasping onto the God of Mischief's stiff arm, she summoned the power to teleport them across worlds, aided by his own lingering magic. It was a feeling of anticipation and uncertainty. She hadn't dared to teleport across realms. She knew only one that could. It is why she had hoped his power would aid her.

"Thor, Malekith is going to attack earth!", Jane's voice became smaller to Fury until it was nothing.


	11. Innocence

Innocence

_the fact that someone is not guilty of a crime_

* * *

"Fury!", Odin's voice startled her into alert, flickering her eyes around the golden hall that dimmed under the fall of night. It worked. Well god damn, it had worked. The king's eyes shot to Loki's body that was held by her side. He motioned his hands to the guards who cleared from the hall with haste, tilting his eyebrow with suspicion.

"Why have you returned him? Why didn't you take him to the prison world?", His question left her in awe of it's uncaring tone to the body of his son who laid dead before him. Fury rose from Loki's side, clearing her voice from the gruffness of the dusty world.

"What Prison World?!... You wanted me to execute him and he is dead...But not by my hand", His ignorance agitated her calm facade, he knew the Prison World was a lie, he orchestrated it.

"W...Why did you bring him back to Asgard?", Odin spoke with delay, his voice softer than before.

"Frigga wanted a fair trial. A chance to prove Loki's innocence before you swung your axe. She thought he was incapable of the evil that condemned him...Frigga was right", She spoke accusingly, with a voice of irritation, clenching her jaw to withhold the profanity that would fall.

"Is that so?", Odin studied the body with curious eyes, un-moving from his pedestal. He acted oddly. Almost senile. She ignored his blatant disregard, mounting the first step of his pedestal with a low voice. Her eyes searched the man, who in return stared back at her without hesitation.

"Loki was mind was manipulated. By what, I do not know. It tortured him for his power. Left him weak...It persuaded his hand in attacking New York. In fact he remembered little before he was brought back to Asgard in chains", Fury spoke with a concerned expression. Odin seemed to become more natural in his expression of curiosity. His eyebrow raised with question, descending the stairs to the blonde haired woman.

"And how did you extract this information?",

"While I can't read memories by touch as Loki could, I do know how to reverse someone's magic upon themselves. He tried to read mine-", Fury was interrupted by the King, "And you read his...Frigga would be proud of your tricks",

"They were mindless tricks. Her pride would stand with her son.", Fury breathed out, glancing her blue eyes to Loki's corpse. She couldn't believe she was defending the creature. It wasn't for him. It was for the woman who died believing he was good. That he could do better.

"Tell me...how did he die?", Odin's mind seemed to catch up with the events in front of him, adopting a frail tone in his booming voice. His footsteps passed her, kneeling next to the body of Loki.

"He died saving Thor...He died a hero", Her low voice piqued the king's interest in her words.

"Your service is no longer needed but I imagine you will not surrender under my terms.", The king disrupted her steps that walked passed Loki's body on the long-running golden carpet.

"Surrender?"

"Thor's friends remain in the dungeon's for their treason. As will you", The king motioned toward the building situated above the dungeons. The golden metals on his arm glinted under the dull light. It reminded her of the Bifrost which encapsulated streams of bright energy, portraying themselves as coloured entities.

"Give me Heimdall"

"I will do no such thing!", Odin's voice boomed toward her, vicious in its venomous fire.

"Earth is under attack!", Fury hissed, watching the guards close in around her. Blue energy erupted from her palm, nudging them back, away from her.

"I've been to prison. Not a fan.", Her teeth gritted with anger at the thought that swirled in her mind. It was the only way to escape with her freedom.

"Then you will not resist!",

"Let me fight!", Fury's words silence the clattering of armour that raced towards her like she were a hardened criminal. Odin halted them with the motion of his hand, his eye sparked with question.

"But why fight when there is a God doing as such?", Odin's eyes widened as a brilliant blue light sparked an outline of florescence around her figure. Her earthly clothes transformed into a dark leather catsuit that clung to her body tightly with red ribbons of metal twirling from her bodice into a flared collar at her neck. Black material that was cape like in appearance hung from her waist, attached to the bodice that sprouted spiked shoulder plates, falling in layers onto her muscled shoulders. Buckled boots strapped to her feet, growing to her shin, mimicking the red and black colour scheme. Her hair was braided at the sides twirling into a high set ponytail.

"Because, that's what heroes do", She spoke without delay, her boots clicking against the hard floor upon her exit toward the Bifrost.


	12. Thunder and Fury

Thunder and Fury

Loud noise and extreme anger

* * *

The ground trembled under the pandemonium of Malekith's ship that cut through the river, crumbling the earth that slowed it to a stop. Fury set her pace with a fastened step, pushing through the herds of panicking people that ran from the fin-shaped alien ship. Heimdall had set her landing to the cause of the commotion. A library grounds paved and gardened to perfection, protected by a towering black gate. People stared at her with questioning looks, almost if to warn her to run the other way. She kept her feet under the wet pavement, halting with a hand at her hip. Her eyes watched the ship flicker with red energy that descended to the dark elves to the slippery grass. A smile painted her lips, hearing the whistling of wind before she saw the God. He landed in front of her, shattering the pavement in his might.

"I like the red", She spoke with jest, pointing to his red cape. His sight turned to her, smiling a childish grin. Her humorous quip shattered his war mask.

"I have many questions, but I feel they would be better saved for a later time",

Fury conjured an expression of seriousness, summoning a blue flame in her palm as she planted herself next to the God. Malekith stared between them with his electric blue eyes and charred face. His army followed behind him. He wore a silver armour this time, matching his minions.

"You needn't have come so far, Asgardians! Death would have come to you soon enough.",

"Not by your hand!", Thor walked toward the white skinned creature, Fury followed with caution, eyeing the armoured little beasts that lingered by their master's side.

"Your universe was never meant to be. Your world and your family will be extinguished", Malekith summoned energy from the Aether, motioning his hand similarly to how she would conjure a flame. It struck Thor, knocking him onto the ground with the violence of a speeding bus. Fury stepped into his previously held ground, meeting Malekith with a powerful blast of blue fire.

"You", His voice lowered, narrowing his eyes to the blue-eyed woman. Malekith motioned for his small army to take care of her. Nothing happened. He tore his eyes away from her to see them all on fire, writhing on the ground in agony.

"You should have chosen another planet", Fury taunted, this time closer to his hulking form, dangerously close. He shot a black wisp of power toward her, grinning with a sinister snarl upon her death.

"What?", The beast stared with wide eyes, watching the black mist cut through her like she were a ghost.

"That's a real bitch ain't it?", Her voice lingered behind him seconds before her flaming blade cut through his chest. She ducked to avoid his oncoming fury, unharmed by her strike. They danced in battle, swinging and deflecting hits in an almost choreographed scene. He summoned a black swarm of power, she battled it with a blue flame that licked closer to him with the rage she felt.

"You know with all that power, I thought you would hit harder.", Thor rejoined, watching her battle for a moment. Loki would have been impressed by her use of his tricks. He hoped he would have anyway. The God Of Thunder threw his hammer, slamming Malekith against the Library building with a thundering smash.

"I have a plan", Thor spoke with a mischievous smile, capturing Fury's attention.

"What say we try our last plan again?", Fury interjected. Her palm kindled a small blue flame that danced calmly in her grasp. Thor raised his brow at her suggestion, shaking his head with a smile. She was insane. Or was she?

"Blast him?",

"Blast him",

The blonde haired duo strode toward Malekith with purpose, their hair dancing gloriously in the brisk wind that summoned a new litter of pointy helmet beasts. Electricity sparked a brilliant blue outline of Thor's hammer, sparking down from the grey clouds. Fury extended the flame in her palm, her eyes growing more intense through the flame. Their timing was wordless and flawlessly perfect. Fire and Lighting struck Malekith as he stood from the rubble of Thor's strike. His white skin trembled under their power, living only because the Aether chose it so. Its dark magic fought them with a devilish vengeance. From her palm she could feel the strength of the black magic, it was overwhelming, numbing in its energy that surrounded Malekith in a dark shield. It felt like death.

"Once more", Thor spoke with frustration, he could feel they were on the brink of destroying the creature. They struck him again. This time knocking Malekith back against the grey wall of the Library. From the window Fury could see people huddled, trying to snap a photo of Thor in action. A girl with circular glasses opened the window with an eager expression, her brown hair dishevelled from the excitement.

"Woah...HI THOR!", Her eyes swept from Malekith to the hulking blonde haired man who gave her a small wave and a half-hearted smile. Fury looked at her as if she were insane. "Oh my god, I love your outfit", The girl spoke with a wide smile toward Fury.

"You need to leave", Fury spoke with a calmness in her voice despite the chaos that reigned outside. "One question, what's your superhero duo name?",

"Our what?", Thor and Fury asked collectively. "You know like 'Fire and Lightning',?", The girl specified, watching Malekith's body remain still under the destruction they had cause. Thor's blue eyes looked at Fury with a perplexed expression.

"Fury and Thunder", Thor suggested, taking the task seriously. "Thunder and Fury", Fury corrected the God, urging the girl to leave the Library. She seemed happy with the answer, turning to them for one last question. "Does Jane know about you two?",

Fury was speechless toward the hide of the teenage girl that skipped away from them with a satisfied smirk. "...What?", Fury asked to no one in particular, motioning her hand to set one of the elf's aflame. They had chased the human's from the courtyard.

"Fury!", She heard Thor's voice before she saw the black wisp of power shoot from Malekith's motion. It struck her with an agonizing pain that burned a black trail in her veins. The grass flattened under her weight that crashed down upon it, her heart beat a million miles an hour in panic. She saw darkness and death within the Aether, consumed by it. It crawled through her body with a wave of mindless anger, burning it's way to victory.

The God Of Thunder fought Malekith in a swift, anger-driven rage. Sure that he had killed Fury with the Aether's power.

* * *

A breathless gasp echoed through the darkened room. Fury's eyes darted around the white chamber, raising herself from the bed she had woken up in. Her clothes had dissipated back to her tank and buckled black pants that sat snuggly against her skin. The coolness of the tiled floor welcomed her feet to wander the strange room, seeking answers to her question. Where was she and how did she get here?

"You absorbed the Aether yet you did not die. Thor brought you back to Asgard after the battle was won. Our healers extracted the Aether before it could truly take hold of you. Does that answer your questions?", Odin's voice boomed from the doorway, stepping into the room without warning. Fury snapped her attention toward the man who bore a greenish robe. Her eyebrow raised with question.

"Why are you here?", Her voice was hoarse from not being used in such a time. Odin handed her the black boots she had misplaced and motioned his hand, urging her to follow him. She did.

He led her to the familiar butterflied staircase that stood encased in a beautiful black stain upon its wooden structure. The wing of the palace was seemingly abandoned and sprouted veins of ivy through the cracks in the stone walls. Fury's eyes met the painting on the ceiling as her legs climbed the stairs. It was Loki. He was younger, his hair not as long and his appearance more regal in its crisp tidiness. He wore a similar armour to Thor in the painting, yet he stood alone.

Fury furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, not dwelling on the oddness. She was much more interested in what Odin had to show her.

Once more she stood in front of the black door that was sealed in a long growth of dark green ivy. She felt like she had been in the room more times than anyone else in the past week. Odin pushed open the door without hesitance, strolling through the room like it was his own. Fury followed him with caution, leaving the door slightly ajar. She felt an overwhelming presence of lingering magic that gravitated her toward the centre of the room, toward the deep green ottoman.

"I found these on Loki's body", Odin presented her with the red tipped knife and grey charm that Loki must have swiped off her again. She didn't take them.

"I wondered why someone of your experience would make such mistakes?", Odin set the items on the mantle of the fireplace, wiping away the dust with his palm.

"They were not mistakes", Fury replied without thought, scanning through the selection of books that had been placed back with the utmost care.

"Protection charms are weak, yet it made Loki believe that I feared him. That he had some sort of power by stealing it. That knife allowed him to track my movements, to manipulate thoughts. By doing so he felt as though he could find my secrets. Loki knew what I wanted him to know." Fury spoke with a victorious smile, tapping her nails against the rich blackened wood of the bookcase. Her eyes flickered back to the King. He was still, insulted almost. It faded from his face quickly.

"You thought it wise to deceive the God of Mischief?", Odin's voice grew deeper.

"I thought It necessary", Fury corrected with question, he was acting strange. Too strange. The grey-haired man cleared his throat, resuming his stone expression.

"Your affinity for mischief and trickery reminds me much of my beloved Frigga...These resources were wasted on such an entitled and foolish boy. I hope you put them to better use",

Fury's blue eyes widened with the surprise of his generosity. She could see it pained him to discard of his son's belongings so easily. His eye lingered with the ghost of fond memories, nearing closer to the door.

"Loki was the most powerful sorcerer between all realms. Entitled and selfish: Yes. Yet, he was anything but a failure",

"Then, who better to teach you?", He turned back to Fury. An automated path directed his eye to the bottom left of the shiny black bookcase. "Bottom row, sixth book from the left",.


	13. Perplex

**Perplex**

_Perplex: To make someone feel completely confused_

* * *

_"Then, who better to teach you?", Odin turned back to Fury. An automated path directed his eye to the bottom left of the shiny black bookcase. "Bottom row, sixth book from the left",._

Fury turned to the bookcase with a furrowed brow, quickly darting her eyes to the dark green leather-bound book. There was nothing special about the novel barring its massive volume.

"...Wha-", Fury wanted to question him further but he was gone.

The plush black carpet underneath the shelving cushioned her feet from the surrounding hard gloss flooring. It was the largest square of carpet she had ever seen. It extended from the bookshelf to the timber-framed twin doors that lead to a humble balcony.

The Book. Her hand reached for the soft leather, bringing the heavy book into her lap with crossed legs against the soft rug. Her fingers flicked through hundreds of pages of spells and incantations for longer than she had intended. It was dark outside when she flickered her eyes to the window, she had become more entranced than she thought. Fury tore her hands away from the pages, glancing to the colourful lights that danced against the black sky, like nothing she had ever witnessed on earth. Pages flickered wildly from the book in her lap. Her sight snapped back to the novel that seemed to shuffle through the pages by itself, landing on page 882.

"What?", Fury slid the book of her lap, taking a deep breath of uncertainty. No. She couldn't. Her flaming blue orbs settled back to the leather-bound book of shadows, rereading what she had already known to be true.

It was a spell to summon the dead. A quick incantation of rhythmic words. She spoke them aloud and waited. Nothing. Her wide eyes glanced around the excessively large room. Nothing. She placed the book down on the mantle of the fireplace, breathing a calming breath. There was no reasonable answer to do it. She didn't want any part in witch craft. Yet She did it anyway. It didn't work. She was lucky it hadn't.

"Is that disappointment I see?", The low voice crept from behind her, startling her almost half to death. No. She turned on her heel to meet the familiar emerald eyes that shined against the dark decor. A knife hovered in his hand. He looked pissed. About what she didn't know. Those emerald orbs locked onto her in a frightening sneer like a wolf warding off a hunter.

"Loki", Her voice set off the God who slashed at her with the silver knife. She stepped back quickly. Thinking herself stupid to dodge the attacks of a ghost. "Argh," He nicked her. How did a ghost harm her?. She didn't have time to ask before he was slashing at her once more. Fury launched herself at him, flattening them both against the black carpet. She heard the knife slide from his grasp. He tossed her body off him with ease, swiftly pinning her down with his weight, his hand hovered at her throat. Meeting her blue orbs with a disorientated expression on his face, hesitating in his action. The weight from his knee pressed heavily against her chest, making it harder to breathe underneath it.

"Fury?", He asked with a vacant expression, darting back and forth between her and the knife. She breathed out heavily while trying desperately not to squirm under the pain of his leather-bound knee that pressed harder against her sternum.

"Surprise", She spoke with humour, waiting for his next move. His green orbs observed the room, touching the bookshelf with his fingertips as if it would disappear. He was bound in the same black tunic with golden chevrons matching his shoulder plates that held in place a sweeping cape with an underside of dark green. A statement of royalty in Asgard and a show of being a pretentious douche by her standards. He was a prince and he wanted everyone to know it by the size of his room or the amount of gold plated against his skin even by the power he exuded. She became lost in the thought that created a small smirk against her lips. If he could only read her mind.

Loki moved his knee off her chest, allowing her to stand. She did so cautiously, watching the unsavoury expression wash over his once calm face. He swept up the knife on the floor, holding it in his hand as a pointer while he spoke.

"You tricked me", He pointed the dagger's sharp end toward her with accusation. She imagined him circling her like a vulture, waiting to peck at her skin. Fury crossed her arms over her chest with a smile that bared her sharpened fangs. His eyes narrowed to her. "But there is always a truth within a lie. Tell me yours",

"My name is Fury and you are predictable", Fury launched her elbow past her waist, meeting the shadow that towered behind her. He grunted upon impact with his waist, smiling an impressed smirk. She wanted so badly to meet her fist with his jaw but she needed his help.

"Will you stop trying to kill me for just a moment!?", She hissed between clenched teeth, surrendering a few steps away from him.

"Oh, my, I sincerely apologise, Executioner.", He followed her footsteps, towering over her with unsettling malice. Fury rolled her eyes with irritation, regretting her decision with every passing second. "Was it rude of me to try to kill you? I do apologise. I assumed since-"

Her hand reached for the Book of shadows, resting it against her forearm. It silenced his ramble.

"Oh please, do go on" Fury smirked, flipping through the pages to number 882. She didn't remember reading that he would have a corporeal form. She thought he would appear ghostly. Less annoying maybe. She figured it had to be the engrained magic that allowed him to possess a solid form. This room was the centre of his sorcery. His dark magic was embedded in the white gloss floor, perched on the golden trimmed ceiling, hidden within the dark walls. It was a guest that would never leave. It had cleared the entire wing of its population, leaving only Loki to himself. Now no one.

She hadn't realised he had stopped talking until she met his emerald eyes that bore into hers with a drilling frustration. Her eyebrows were furrowed with thought, sitting the book down on the green chair next to the shelf.

"How do you know what was spoken between Odin and I?", Fury asked with an accusation, almost bowling over the man who soundlessly followed close behind her.

"If you haven't felt the magic within this suite you are truly a pitiful sorcerer.", His words were sharp and venomous. Fury breathed out with agitation. How had she gotten so far off topic?

"Then you'll know that my veins held the Aether", She silenced him completely. His eyes narrowed toward her, waiting to see her statement as a lie. "I'm willing to let you find out why", Fury's offer made his eyebrow raise with intrigue.

"In exchange for tuition?", Loki completed her thought with a smirk, intertwining his fingers against his chest.

"Exactly", Fury nodded her head with agreement, waiting for an answer.

"You do make a compelling offer",


	14. Exposure

**Exposure**

Exposure: a situation or condition that makes someone likely to be harmed

* * *

Her feet felt heavy underneath the weight of her bad choice yet once again she found herself outside of that black door that was sprouting red veins of a strange weed. It was like being addicted to heroin but her drug was horribly brave but nonetheless idiotic ideas that found her in trouble. The day had run smoothly, a quiet day for her. She spent it recovering from the Aether's bitter sting that was yet to leave her system. She felt cold. A feeling most strange to her, having never felt it before. A meeting with Odin seemed to stable her jittery hands greatly. She had much to say and sadly only one person to say it to.

"My dear Fury, you have returned", Loki's emerald eyes met her own dulled blue from the comforts of his green lounge chair. A book was perched in his hand. His fingers were splayed out with three supporting the weight of the book. It resembled a chicken's foot, making her smirk childishly.

"You have a month", She breathed out, hugging her leather jacket close to her skin. "I beg your pardon?", He asked with a knitted brow, lowering the red novel in his hand.

"You have a month until Odin releases your funeral. One month left on Asgard", Fury commented in a louder voice than before, setting down the books in her arms on the green ottoman, sitting down next to them with crossed legs. The buckles on her boots jingled in her movement. Loki breathed out with audible anguish, closing the book in his hand.

"What's last on your bucket list?", Her question struck him as odd, she forgot he was from another world entirely. "Let me rephrase. What is your final wish before you die? The last thing you want to do?",. It was a question she had to answer for herself but yet couldn't find the will to do so. Dying was a sore topic. She felt it. The weakness in her movement and the dryness of her veins like sandpaper rubbing together. The Aether had fastened the process.

"Well...", A childish smile grew on his lips, suggestive in its charm that required no follow up question. A God but yet still a man. Fury knitted her brow with a scowl, surprised by his mortal desires.

"I didn't think you were that way inclined", The words escaped her lips without filter, sparking an onslaught of insulted expressions from the God, who could find no response. In no way was she assuming his sexuality towards the opposing genders, which is what her quip had sounded like. Fury chuckled to lighten the awkward tension she had created by digging that hole.

"I thought bestiality was your thing", She added, unable to contain the humour of her words.

"What?", was all he could utter with venomous words. Fury's slender fingers picked up a deep purple-covered book that she had brought with her. The pages flicked for a moment, locating what she had been searching for. "Here", Her voice spoke softly, sauntering over to the God. She handed him the book with caution. He snatched it with a swift movement. Her tightly bound jacket pressed against the green material of the chair while she hovered over his shoulder to point out the passage.

The chapter, based on Norse Mythology, depicted Loki as the father of a wolf and a serpent and also the mother of a horse, which he had achieved through his ability to shapeshift. She waited for it. Watching his eyes skim across the words. His eyebrows began to knit together. The further he read the more his expression morphed into disgust.

"There we go", Fury smiled widely toward his mortified grimace. His unblinking eyes darted toward her, making her smile grow wider.

"Who wrote this?!", He demanded, slamming the novel shut. Fury leaned over his armoured shoulder to see the white inscription on the rear of the novel.

"Someone who is since dead: J Grimm, 1835", She concluded, covering the smile on her lips. "Lucky for you your sorcery is more Infamous than your...dirty deeds",

"Why are you here?", Loki spoke over her mocking, placing her book on the armrest of his chair.

"Odin wants me to stay. To help protect Asgard from any attacks while it is still weak",

"My dear Fury, I only have a month left, please hurry this along", Loki sat forward in the chair with his elbows rest on his thighs. Fury sighed inwardly, he wasn't the person to express her concerns to. She was foolish to try. Her concern with Odin moving her to this wing of the palace was something to be left unsaid. He wanted to know why she held such power in a body that wasn't meant for it. It was all he wanted.

Fury sat with crossed legs against the charcoal carpet. Her back pressed against the wooden bookshelf. She extended her arm towards him with hesitance. Bitterly resenting the idea of him rattling through her thoughts and memories. His freezing hand caused her arm to reel back with an unexpected sting. She didn't like it. In fact she loathed the idea.

The God was quiet for almost 10 minutes. His green eyes were shut with concentration and his hand clasped against her wrist. By all means, she could dive through his mind as he was doing but she didn't want to know what death felt like. Nor what that creature's mind conjured. Fury breathed out with boredom. Her blue eyes caught the last rays of sunlight that created a shadow against Loki's pale face. He had been gifted with such beauty in his form. She felt herself becoming envious of his flawless skin and perfectly long eyelashes. She felt cheated.

"I'm flattered", Loki's voice startled her. For a moment she had forgotten he was in her mind. An idiotic mistake. Fury huffed with insufferable boredom, striking the fireplace alight with the motion of her fingers. It's warmth comforted her greatly. She was tired. So tired from the pain in her veins. She didn't feel it now. It was the only moment of relief. She could feel herself drifting into darkness. Fighting valiantly to keep her eyes open. But she couldn't.

She closed her heavy eyelids and saw a purple creature coming forth from the darkness. He was taller than any beast she had ever seen and muscled underneath his armour. He ushered her to follow beside him with the promise of power. She did. It was a mistake. At his side, the purple creature bound her with spiked chains that poured blood from her limbs in their malice. Her screams were silenced by a metallic muzzle that clamped her mouth shut. Her eyes flickered down to her green cape with fear, screaming from the pain that came from the beast's paw within her brain. He wanted her power. He craved it. He needed it.

"Argh!", Fury jolted awake, knocking into the bookshelf with the swiftness she tore her wrist away from him. She glanced to him with pain evident in her eyes. What the hell was that? It was the creature. It had to be. The one that manipulated his mind. Loki feared him greatly. Who was it?

He watched her breathe heavily with her back against the black carpet. His expression didn't falter from her erratic reaction to his memory. It was the most fear he had seen within the woman.

"What did you find?", She asked through the jittery feeling in her wrist, sitting up from the floor.

"You have a quite strange obsession for tragic romance novels. You despise the demonic blue of your eyes yet they are the only factor of your appearance that projects the illusion of normalcy", Loki stood from the chair, hosting a grim expression. "...and the Aether has lessened your life expectancy dramatically",

Fury clenched her jaw at the news. She knew it to be true. She felt her mortality fading into nothing. "Had your power not been slowly killing you, you could have held the Aether indefinitely. You could have been a most powerful weapon...", Loki trailed off in his thought.

"Fire cannot undo fire", Fury murmured softly. "How long do I have left?", She asked with a sharp voice.

"A month, a few days, I can't say",

"Then you had better get teaching", She ordered. His face glowed with a smirk, unimmune to her abruptness.


	15. Restraint

Restraint

_a condition that keeps someone or something under control._

* * *

Through the early hours of the Morning, Loki taught Fury the basis of his craft. A truly awful teacher. She found herself accumulating more profanity in her mind than knowledge of magic. She wondered if she glared hard enough would his head would explode? No. The vein that pulsed against his temple with impatience might have had she not made a breakthrough in her craft. She materialized a dagger in her palm just as his patience snapped, daring him to pursue his thought. He murmured under his breath that she may not have been as useless as she seemed but it was the most compliment she would get.

The lessons left her absolutely destroyed when the time came to move her light belongings to the abandoned room across from the familiar black door. A room that was smaller than Loki's but still huge in her eyes. It was decorated in a bright white that sprayed across the walls and the light wooden flooring. A vastly different colour scheme to its twin next door.

Fury sunk into the four poster bed that offered a dreamy red covered spread that enveloped her in warmth and comfort. She hissed lightly at the crack of sunlight let in by the draping red curtains that were held back by a golden rope. Her indulgence couldn't last forever. She had a meeting to attend with the council and the warriors three. A meeting that by no means had she wanted to go to.

Dressed in her swat like uniform she descended the butterflied stairs to the hall, where more people had gathered than she had expected. Fury was met with whispers and silence. She sat at the far table, close to Sif who leaned next to her.

"Keeping it within the family I see", She spoke with accusation, hurrying to find another seat. Fury met Fandral's blue eyes across the table with question.

"You'll see", He mouthed to her, offering her to no ease. An elderly man stood from his seat dressed in a red robe. His beard hung low against his chest, swaying as he spoke.

"Thor Odinson has requested the aid of one of your own", He spoke with frailty in his tone. Odin stiffened in his throne, waiting to hear the name. "Furya Diaval".

Fury sunk in her seat that had been illuminated with white sets of eyes that stared at her.

"No", Odin spoke the words almost as fast as the man had finished his sentence. Dismissing his case. No?

"Yes", She stood from her seat with inhuman speed. He was King Of Asgard but he was not her King. How dare he speak for her.

"Thor decided his own fate when he left Asgard", Odin spoke simply, staring down at her with a scowling frown.

"You will find I am a protector of realms. You have no sway over my action",

Odin dismissed the guards that protected him from her approach, letting her through the crowd of round tables that littered the hall.

"Sif", The king waved over the armored woman. Was he going to ignore her?

He waited until Sif took her place next to Fury before speaking again.

"You will go in place of Fury", His words sent fire through her veins. "Like hell she will", Fury hissed, tearing through the crowd of people with urgency.

"Well, stop her", Odin's order could be heard through out the hall, setting Sif into warrior mode.

"Furya!", The king's booming voice halted her step toward the Bifrost. "Win and you can go. If not you stay", He spoke, motioning for the guards to clear room for the epic showdown.

"So be it", Fury hissed, prepared to take on the Asgardian warrior who brandished her sword with malice. It was not a smart idea to challenge a warrior more than double her age but then again what one of her ideas had been smart so far?

"You should have stayed", Sif smirked a cocky grin letting her sword slip through her grasp until her fingers met their familiar mark. Fury clenched her jaw, materializing her two fiery blades into her hand. She had spent the last few nights perfecting that trick.

Sif was the first to attack. She slashed skillfully, her footwork impeccable in it's swiftness. Fury blocked her skillful blows and fought back with slashes that were aimed to be fast and precise. She dodged and ducked with inhuman speed, battling the Asgardian warrior whose silver armor glinted with superiority. People cheered for Sif. One of their own. A noblewoman. Sif knocked the fiery blade from Fury's hand, gripping her own weapon tighter. The crowd cheered louder.

"Pitiful half-breed", The dark haired woman taunted. She had already won the fight.

Fury hissed and clipped Sif in the jaw with her elbow. A dishonorable act but there was no place for niceties or fairness in a fight against a vampire. The audience grew suddenly silent, eyes peeled as Fury kicked Sif's sword from her grasp with vicious rage. She watched Sif's brown eyes search for weakness in the moment Fury had her gripped viciously by the throat. It was dead silent. Sif threw her head forward and collided her skull against Fury's. Deafening cheers bounded off the golden walls. Fury stumbled but didn't release her tight grip against the hit that stung her brow, dribbling blood down her temple. Sif's eyes widened with surprise. The forceful hit should have thrown her halfway across the hall. It only pissed her off, so much that she couldn't contain the white fangs that extended her lips in a murderous growl. Her fingers curled around Sif's white neck, lifting her feet off the ground then driving her into the pavement. A collective gasp echoed through the hall as she slammed Sif into the pavement with a wave of anger that sent a hairline fracture sprawling through the stone. It was silent. Dead silent. Fire burst from her blade that licked heat against Sif's slender throat. "Yield", Fury warned with her eyes alight in blue flame. A drop of blood seeped from Sif's forehead from her harsh headbutt. Both women breathed heavily with exhaustion, unyielding in their bravery. The fight was over it was clear to see. She had won. Holy shit she had won.

Fury retracted her blade and turned her back on the dark haired warrior. Unwilling to waste any more time on her idiotic gossip.

"Where is he?", Fury's rage was directed toward Odin whose face depicted disappointment in her victory. She loathed his possessive behavior. It sent fire through her veins.

"Earth, Alaska", Odin revealed between clenched teeth.


	16. Absence

**Absence**

_The state of not being present_

* * *

"My dear Fury, what is this? Another visit and so soon?", Loki's sarcastic voice welcomed her into his dark room. He was resting against the softness of his bed, glancing toward the ceiling with his hands pressed against his chest. She thought it strange that he laid on top of the black duvet like he was afraid of creasing his outfit. She was surprised he was pretending to sleep at all. There were too many questions and not enough answers about the God. It summed up his existence.

"Thor needs my help", Fury spoke with a low voice. In her arms, she plunked down a new assortment of novels that had fascinated her greatly. And mostly novels about himself. He loved to read of his own brilliance. It gave him a rare moment of peace in her eyes.

"When do you leave?", Loki spoke with a cruel eagerness that masked the pain of being put below his brother once more.

"An hour", She responded with a huff of agitation, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If you die on Earth, do find it in your heart to leave me alone in the afterlife", His eyes didn't tear from their spot on the ceiling, like the painting above him would move if he looked away for a second.

"And I you", Fury spoke with sarcasm, imagining he had said something along the lines of a goodbye. "No, I can't stay. No matter how much you beg. I must go", She continued with a dramatic tone that embodied a bad soap opera. He didn't acknowledge her performance but she saw a smile creep on his lips if only for a second. Fury sauntered over to him, nudging his boots with her fist.

"Be good", She warned, making her exit to the door.

"Why?", He responded without thought.

"That's the spirit", She ignored his response and swung open the black door. She was gone.

* * *

Fury was away for just over three weeks with Thor who had struck trouble in Alaska. He had been captured by agents of Hydra, a dark secret organization. She found him contained in a thick-walled cell underneath the snow. She made sure they hadn't touched him, that he hadn't endured the torture his brother had. Humans fought them. But who would win against a God and a sorcerer?

It took Fury weeks to convince Thor to return to Asgard, if only for a day. He was different, unforgiving in a way. It was a sight he hadn't wanted his friends to see. He needed Fury's recklessness that wasn't bound by loyalty. He needed it to find who he was without a mother and a brother. Fighting whoever dare challenge him made him feel a whole lot better.

Fury had convinced Thor to return to Asgard for Loki's funeral but in return, he brought with him unforgivable weather that drenched whoever should venture outside. Among the grief of his brother's death, Jane felt their relationship too hard to maintain and left him through a letter she wrote. He was miserable. He had dragged her down not too far behind him with his sulking mood. But they were back. Back on the luminescent bridge that would lead them to the golden palace.

"It is good to have you two back", Heimdall spoke over the pattering of rain against the bridge. Thor bowed his head in acknowledgement, his once delirious happiness was overshadowed by the pain of Loki's funeral. Fury thanked the orange-eyed gatekeeper who looked concerned for his friend. Her feet struggled to keep up with Thor's bounding steps that waded through the rain.

"Hey", Fury's soft voice slowed his vigorous steps. He turned his head to meet her blue eyes. "The Thor who wasn't bound by any law holds no place here", She warned him, placing her hand against his exposed arm. He looked back to the palace, breathing out heavily. The grey clouds above him swirled with anger, lighting the sky with electrified lightning. The thundering drops of rain lessened but still blurred the golden palace with its heavy fall.

"Better", She commended with a half-hearted smile.

They entered the palace through the cobblestone courtyard that was lit with orange circular lights mounted upon golden pillars. Fury's eyes crept to the highest window on the left wing of the palace. Through the rain, she couldn't see a thing. His month was up, maybe he had returned back to the spirit world. She wanted to find out. Though she much enjoyed Thor's company she had all about she could take of the man. She thought it wise to part ways before he found Odin.

"Fury", Thor's booming voice halted her steps that veered to the rear entry of the left wing. It was a small arched door with 4 square pieces of glass to look through. His blonde hair was miserably drenched and his armour shiny with rain droplets that slid off his chest. He stood close to her as he always did, with no sense of personal space whatsoever. His skin was always radiating with an inhuman warmth when he stood to close. like a blazing furnace. She imagined the rain sizzling against it, unable to dampen its fire.

"Thank you, Fury", Thor gathered her by his side, his arm draped across her back. He squeezed her against his metal-bound waist with a smile and ruffled the stiff hair in her ponytail.

"You're welcome, Lightning", Fury spoke with a lightness in her voice. His subtle affection was a humbling feeling. It meant she had brought him back from the point of no return. He was becoming himself again. She viciously patted his back with a smirk, startling him slightly with the slapping sound.

"Be good", Fury's luminous eyes shined through the darkness of the sky. He smiled at her remark and returned back to the cobblestone path. Watching. Just watching her form disappear beyond the arched door. His smile dropped with her out of sight and his jaw clenched with thought. She was playing with fire.

* * *

Dimmed downlights lined the dark staircase in a brilliant blue light that guided her way through the pitch black foyer. Her uniform was soaked through and her body ached but she needed to know if the ghost remained within his room. A dreaded feeling met her chest as she neared the black door. It was extremely overgrown to the point of almost sealing the door shut. She struggled to pry open the brass handle but she did. The heavy door swung open welcoming her into the darkness. She waited. Her eyes struggling against the darkness. Nothing. Not a sound to be heard or shape to be seen. Only the whistling wind sounded, viciously whipping droplets of rain against the arched windows. She was disheartened in not hearing the low voice that usually greeted her with a well-learned allure. An illness on her behalf.

Fury stepped into the room guided by the light stream that came from the window. Books were strewn across the carpet, set down on certain pages. Her fingers traced the bookshelf with a deep breath that disturbed the dust on its surface. She admired his collection of books that spanned from sorcery to...Romeo and Juliet?

She had to look again to make sure she wasn't delirious from the cold. A smile met her lips from the revelation that made the quick-witted sorcerer seem less badass in his infamy.

"She has returned", A shadow crawled behind her. Unclear on personal space like his brother. Fury smirked with relief, ignoring his chest that was almost pressed against her back.

"Satan, is that you?", She spoke with humour. Her heel squeaked against the white floor and she met the emerald eyes that appeared from the darkness in a lingering stare.

"Oh, it's you. So close",

His face didn't falter from the vacant expression he held while he waited for her to stop talking.

"I thought you would have brought Thor", He spoke with a prying manner. Under his stare laid a secret he couldn't help but share. Fury's eyes flickered to the pouring rain that drenched the palace with its viciousness.

"Why?",

"Have you not heard?", A smile formed on Loki's lips at her clueless expression. What?

"Oh my dear Fury, You've been rumoured to be a mistress to Odin, Thor and well...", She didn't need his hand to motion to himself for her to know it was him.

"Who started it? The rumour?", Fury asked with a fire growing in her veins.

"Well you did when you ran off with Thor for 3 weeks", Loki bit back with a wave of unexplained anger hidden beneath his witty humour. Was he accusing her of something? He should have known not to press her by now. How rich. To act betrayed by her departure. _Manipulative prick_

"And what a fireball he was in the sack", She spoke with venom, capturing his attention that rained fire upon her. It told her to stop before he stops having a reason not to kill her.

"You know I would have never thought such a strong beast of a man could be such a gentle lover", She continued her lie with a taunting voice of insult. She couldn't stop. She wouldn't. Not for his sake.

He grasped her arms viciously, sparking excitement within her. His strength lured her close until she was pressed against his leather-bound chest. Trapped by his long fingers that dropped to her elbows, gathering her armoured waist in the violent action. A loose strand of midnight Black hair dared to fall out of place of his slicked-back mane. Fury felt an overwhelming urge to kill him or kiss him. One of which he would have preferred. She settled on a taunting smile to settle the rush of adrenaline pumping underneath her pale skin. She was certain her mental balance wasn't what it used to be. Her sense came back to her but she didn't fight his painful grasp. He wanted her to. She could see the desperation in his staring orbs. It pleaded for her to fear him. To fall into subjugation under his rule. He wanted to break her insolence. To feel the accomplishment in extinguishing her flame.

"You may worship chaos but do not test me, dear Fury", His words against her ears sent a line of hair sticking up against her skin. She felt his breath against her wet skin that pleaded with her to yield but she was a sucker for destruction and she loathed him.

"Who said it was a test?", She met his eyes with the viciousness he held against her. His teeth were clamped together with such rage that his cheekbones grew increasingly sharp. She felt the grip on her arm lessen then float away. Veins pulsed at the base of his neck. His mind elsewhere. In his eyes, she saw a vacancy. The lights were on but nobody was home. His chest heaved with ragged, angry breaths. He was disassociated with his body. Interesting.

It lingered in her mind that perhaps he had entered her thoughts. He seemed invasive enough. She thought of Thor. Embracing him in the rain. His hand caught against her cheek where they should have parted. The courtyard lights dimmed while their lips met in a deep, deprived kiss. Her legs groped around his waist as rough hands gripped at her clothing, tearing mercilessly at her vest until he had found her tank under her three layers.

Loki's hand summoned a wisp of green light that swirled around her arm with a sinister glow. Horns sprouted in a golden helmet from the top of his head matching his armour. He was manifesting, manipulating her thought. But it wasn't her thought. It was his. She was in his mind.

She returned to the thought, imagining the courtyard, the ragged breaths. She had to end it. It was depraved. Thor disappeared from her mind and she turned to the dark figure in the back. "Satisfied?", She called. "Now get out". The thought flashed to a foreign planet, void of any life. The purple-skinned creature towered over her chained form, drawing from her essence of magic. She screamed from the pain. Pleading for death. He laughed and whipped the hilt of his knife around her mouth. A groan escaped her lips following a whimper of despair. "You don't leave until I'm satisfied". Tears welled in her eyes. Knowing what followed. She welcomed the searing pain of the needle that buried into her wrist, leaving a trail of scars from the creature's lack of care. The syringe emptied her veins and replaced it with the virus that insured her loyalty. The thousands of black creatures shot into her veins, taking the consciousness from her body.

"You can project your thoughts...Your feelings", Fury reeled back with wide eyes, her voice was no more than a whisper to the man who had taken a battle stance. She shook her head, stripping the care from her voice.

"If you tell me to kneel I will punt my fist into your jaw", Fury's words ripped him from his furious trance. His armour disappeared in a mist of green and gold. The lightness in the room was taken with his sorcery. It left them once more in darkness.

He growled with a deep rage in his chest. His hand released her waist with defiance. She was relieved he had backed down. It gave her a sense of victory.

"You're wet", Loki wiped his hands against the leg of his pants. He was quite the detective. Her blue eyes darted to the pattering drops of rain that leaked onto the balcony. She had questions like: Who was the purple man and why he wanted Loki so weak? Was it why he hadn't used the powers he was infamous for? Because he had been stripped? But most of all why did she care? Maybe she was the mental case.

"You're perceptive", She commented with a sour expression. Her eyes watched the waterfall from the sky, stalking closer to the window to see it patter against the cobblestone courtyard below.

"Why are you here?", Loki's fuse had run short with her. He would rather enjoy his last few hours alone.

"If you have to ask then you needn't know, if you know then you needn't ask", Fury revelled in his expression that morphed into utter annoyance. He muttered words underneath his breath, awaiting her answer. She was proud of how quickly the cryptic stir had popped into her mind. He wasn't as appreciative of her stirring.

"It's your last day. I wanted to make certain you were actually gone.", Fury smirked with humour. Her fingernails tapped lightly at the glass window making a soft pattering sound.

"How thoughtful", He commented with the same bitter smirk that revealed itself in place of any real reaction. His eyes seemed to linger on the fact that she was soaking wet against his pristine white floor, grimacing at her appearance like she were a dirty peasant.

"You have two hours until they burn you and we're still not done yet", Fury set her pace to the black door. His confusion seemed out of place on his delicate features, following her with his eyes.

"You've waited a month already. What are another ten minutes?", Her voice trailed from the hallway to the mahogany door that lived almost straight across from Loki's room.


	17. Truths

**Truths**

_The conformity of reality_

* * *

Steaming water filled the white tiled bathroom with an ominous fog that danced around the crimson light shade. A bruised and battered Fury hissed under the security of the fog-filled abyss. Her armour peeled off her skin with a defiant resistance.

"Argh!", She threw it onto the ground with unexplained anger. She wanted to burn it. To throw it into an incinerator and watch fragments of it try to escape. She had freed herself from it after a short while. Her hand swiped away the fog that coated the arched mirror almost startling herself at the sight. She looked weak and frail. Her eyes shadowed in a dark semicircle. Cheeks sharpened with anorexic neglect. There was no warmth in her eyes or smile, only sickness.

"Fuck", An unholy purple and red bruise twisted around her arm from her wrist to shoulder like watercolour splashed against her tattoo. Deep finger-shaped bruised scattered from her shoulder to her waist. She was a mess. Even her skin had adopted a dull sheen of death that aged her terribly. It caught the breath in her throat. She looked away. She hoped her death would be quick. That she wouldn't have to wither away into nothingness. Doomed to become incoherent in her speech and useless in her action but her mind awake and screaming.

The hot water swept away the build-up of pressure in her chest. She sat for a moment, watching the water spray down on her with her knees brought to her chest. In a city crawling with countless people, she had never felt so alone. Condemned by the flame that had protected her.

_"Furya you cannot prevail. I forbid you to try. It is hellfire your father has passed to you. A flame of the gods", Seraphina warned with tears brimmed in her fading blue eyes that sagged with wisdom. Mother of Fury. An Infamous Vampire. The last. In her moments before death, she pleaded. Soft skin gripped at Fury. The old woman had fight left. _

_"Death will come before its time, Fury. Fire is a Vampire's Curse", Fury's teeth gritted with agitation, grasping at the wound on her neck where her dear old mother had bitten her. She never much liked the woman._

_Blood streamed down her pale skin. Even in her pain, she saw the hunger light in Seraphina's eyes at the crimson fluid. She was no more than a beast. A beast held down by agonizing pain. Fury knelt in the thick snow of Romania, she had travelled a distance to find her. Her frozen fingers grasped at the white skin that exposed itself from her mother's tattered red dress. Her fangs were still stained in Fury's blood as she screamed for mercy from the flame that charred her insides._

_"Then I suppose I'll burn", Fury sneered through her subtle jab. The silver blade in her palm sunk into the beast's chest with ease._

_"La _revedere_" (Goodbye), Fury stepped back from the woman who became engulfed in an orange flame. Bright and burning under the shade of the forest._

* * *

A lifetime passed before Fury returned to Loki's dark and dust filled room that creaked with the shuffling of her footsteps. He huffed a disgruntled breath that tore his sights from the tapered ceiling where he had become lost in his own though. The bed underneath him grumbled in protest at his vertically sprawled body that jolted up ever so slightly to behold the silver-haired heathen. She was dressed differently. Too comfortably for his own taste. Her 'shirt' was the exact cut of her vest but clung tightly against her skin, cinching into a crossed over strap at against her back. It was sleeveless and black. What he assumed in mortal fashion was used for exercise, just the same as her deep red 'pants' that clung to her the same. No pockets or element of surprise could be hidden, swiftness had to be there purpose. She hadn't acknowledged his presence as of yet, but she undoubtedly knew she had his attention. Something plagued her mind. It gave her a vacant expression in her eyes while she relocated his ivory floor rug to the left of the room, dragging it with one corner.

The bright flicker of blue filtered light sprung to life from the chrome chandelier, all six bulbs that sat above the handcrafted gothic metal work illuminated the centre of the chamber in seconds. His emerald eyes watched the draping silver jewels sway with the breeze that escaped the crack in his window. The shattered glass that Thor had rained upon his floor. Glancing away with an irritated sigh.

Under the harsh white light, Fury seemed out of place. The white and black room was conflicted by the blue and purple that was stamped in patches against the dark swirling ink up her arm and onto her neck. Like watercolour splashed against her. Disgusting, she looked like a disgusting mess.

"Why Fury, you look simply...repulsive", He slipped off the bed, joining her in the centre of the room. She held a black marker in her hand, stuffing it into the small pocket of her pants. Her eyes darted to the bruises on her limbs with an amused expression.

"Yeah, your brother is-", The vulgar words almost escaped her mouth without fear of recompense. She knew exactly how to match his wit. His silent daggers would have to do. He was too close to finding her secrets. After a moment of enduring her mocking smile, he motioned his wrist, ushering her to sit. Pain sprung in her eyes as she folded her legs and planted that muscular body on the ground.

"Before I reveal to you my mastery of your craft, I do require some answers", Her low voice triggered a swift roll of his eyes, crossing his arms at his chest. "Naturally", He breathed out.

"So sit down and buckle up Princess", That smile, that infuriating mocking smile taunted him to no end. He was a God. One who should be king. He should have taught her the repercussions of that smile. But he didn't. He couldn't. Not before he knew what his creature possessed. So he sat like an obedient dog.

"That purple creature in your thoughts...he stripped your power, your magic.", It wasn't a question or a heartfelt concern. It was a confrontation. That wench had wormed her way unknowingly into his mind. A dangerous place to be. His face dropped for a moment, hidden behind his sadistic smile, behind his perfectly aligned teeth. Panic stung in his veins, remembering the purple-skinned creature well.

"No", The words were calmed by his smile that forced his rage into a deep sleep. She didn't deserve to know, but she wanted to. Those blue eyes, so calm and commanding. Beneath them, her heart beat without restraint. Those pointed fangs underneath her smirk, almost spellbinding. She wanted to know. Someone wanted to know. Strange.

She waited, knowing he would continue his answer if he wanted her secrets. And he did want them. As tempting as it was to raid her thoughts, she was strong. Though her body withered her mind had always ushered him astray, it shut him out, lead him down paths with no end, rooms with no doors. How had she prepared herself against it? How could she deflect him so well?... Unless-

"...They still exist but they do not belong to me. They belonged to the pure blood that once coursed through my veins...They don't recognise me anymore...It is quite the disappointment", Loki's eyes drifted to the fireplace, it sparked with a vibrant blue glow that wicked the cold air away. Fury bowed her head with understanding, her lips pursed in thought. Once again that black marker appeared in sight and his eyebrows furrowed. Watching as she placed herself in the centre of the circle, almost crushing his legs with her bluntness.

"Move", She ordered, shooing him like a child. He shifted his legs with a murmur of curses. She had the manners of a stable kept pig. Moving close, too close. He could distinctly make out the fang points of that scar against her white neck. It shined in the dim light. Glossy and white. Like a map, illuminated only to him. She started to flex her tattoed arm but stopped quickly to meet his eyes.

"Now this is for educational purposes. Don't be a pervert", Fury warned lightly with that damned smirk while her body shifted to face her tattoed sleeve toward him. She reefed the neckline of her scarce top that had drifted lower in her movement.

"Dear Fury, rest assured that a human...Half-breed would never be so honoured", Loki replied with wit, impatiently urging her to carry on.

Flame trickled down the black tattoo. Each line was slowly eaten by the rolling fire, consumed by its electric blue light that sprung to life in her palm. She waited. Not giving him an inch of a clue. The lines. It had to be the lines that somehow granted her immortal power. His fingers softly touched the fire pattern that swirled like lava in a volcano, waiting to burst. How? How had she harnessed the power at such a specific point? Most required trinkets and spellbound jewellery. It was almost impossible to do so. The lines. His eyes followed them once over. Then again. They swirled and intersected at four points, only four. Four very familiar shapes formed under his stare.

"...You did not-", He struggled to say the words over the idiotic grin that pulled at his mouth. A fool she was. An uneducated fool. The assumption he had made that she may have had a shred of power widened that mocking grin. He breathed out a restrained laugh from his nose, sealing his lips shut to suppress the humour.

Fury didn't laugh, Fury didn't say much at all as the flame retreated to the intersecting lines, illuminating four of the worst sigils one could have pressed on their skin. Out came that black marker from her pocket. She motioned for his arm with the commanding gesture of her fingers. His eyebrow raised, extending it toward her. She carelessly tore through his leather arm brace, discarding of it in her lap. The cool brush tip of the marker swept against his skin. She held his arm upright at his wrist, staining his skin with three symbols.

"Bring me back a blade of grass from Midgard", She ordered without any care in her voice. A blade of grass? He couldn't teleport across worlds, not after that creature ripped his strength from his veins.

"I ca-", "I think you'll find you can"

Loki flinched abruptly as the glossy floor disappeared underneath him in an eddy of light. Grass. He saw grass attached in spears of green against the dark soil of Midgard. He knelt to feel it in his fingers. It was real and dancing in the breeze against his hold. The symbols on his forearm glowed a spectacular green, a colour he much adored. The feeling was euphoric. The potential for chaos was limitless. Green mist swirled around him in a manner most sinister, a smile pressed against his lips as the emerald fog enveloped his being and once more he was returned to Fury. She was so weak, so easily defeated. It seemed only to easy to snap that slender neck. He wanted to try.

So easily his hand curled around that white skin. He blinked and there he was, fingers pressed against her neck. She didn't seem scared though her eyes widened softly, a sigh loosed from her lips. He was no more in control than he was during his reign over New York. Blue eyes warned him once, only once to surrender. He wouldn't, he couldn't control the swirling mist that licked at Fury's skin coming closer and closer. It wanted her. It needed her dead. Her calm faded with the tightening of his hand like she was waiting for something. Her ragged breath was music to his ears. He relished in the tensing of her muscles in his grasp that pinned her wrist and her neck against the tapered wall, forcing a puff of dust to escape the black framed sconce. He wanted her to die intimately and slowly. Loki's eyes trailed the hollowness of her collarbones, a smile crested on his lips. His orbs pried with invisible hands at her form. Lusting with unsurpassed restrain.

A slender hand shot to his bare arm, Fury gripped it with all her might, smudging the black ink from her marker. The sigils receded immediately, tearing his film of magic from him, sucking it back into the dark night. A fool, an utter fool she was. Just as her hand gripped his skin he turned over her wrist with his own forceful strength. His eyes met the black stripes that formed a barcode on her inner forearm. A prison brand. Above it another brand loomed, retreating into her skin with a green spark. It was small but easily depicted the three Norns, holding in their skeletal hands the web of fate. Their faces were distorted in objection at the sheer blindfolds covering those decrepit dead eyes.

"Oh, dear", He smiled. She had gotten herself into an unbreakable contract. To defy the Norns was to change what once was, what shall be and what is coming into. The Norns themselves held no vengeance. But the magical being that branded her wouldn't be so generous. He felt the anger that surged in waves of fury. She was to die by his hand. A sorcerer. There was only one. One who could have been ignorant enough to believe he had changed fate. A collector of power, A demon.

"You must have been truly desperate to have made a bargain with Valerian, Loki's eyes watched her stiffen at his words. "...Or was it a brand gained in matrimony?", He revelled in the distasteful scowl that painted her face. "He so badly wanted my magic that he defiled my skin with dark magic without a second thought... he loved so hard and possessively that he strangled me...This symbol is the only thing that keeps him blind to my whereabouts but it won't stop him from collecting my magic when I die", Fury motioned to the fourth sigil on her arm, one she hadn't illustrated onto his skin.

"And what did you do to warrant such a reaction?", Loki absentmindedly asked, watching the commotion outside. Lights flickered in the sky. His funeral was only moments away.

"When I left. I didn't leave his court of demons standing", She grumbled, shooting toward the balcony to see the funeral. Loki smirked, imagining the flames that followed her departure. He followed her with hesitance, stopping just a few feet away from Fury on the balcony. The rain had dulled lightly, spraying soft wetness against his skin in the quick wind.

"About that final wish", He smiled, warranting a swift scowl onto Fury's face. "No creature impure has ever tarnished those satin sheets. Don't set aside your prejudice now", She hissed, murmuring under her breath. "Desperate times", He returned her sinister scowl. She smiled and he watched her take a leap toward him. Those blue eyes circulated with mischief and her mouth perked into a smirk that revealed those pointed fangs. She neared closer, her eyes circling him. His body stiffened in her abrupt closeness, feeling the urge to back away from the creature. Disgusting. Her breed was disgusting. A tragedy for her to be so impure. Fury didn't lay a hand on him, barely brushing him with her body. He imagined her fangs piercing into his flesh, the feeling of her ragged breath against his neck as he-

"Stop it", Loki warned in a harsh tone, squirming away from her invasion of his mind. It was foul and abhorrent. Inducing the sensation to dry retch. But yet it was so forbidden and unimaginably deranged...What.

"Out!", The words rolled off his tongue with potent malice.

"I'm not in your head, dear Loki. You couldn't handle it", He despised the way she pronounced 'it' in the low tone that she did. Her voice like silk. "Besides, that wasn't your last wish"

"Oh?"

"No, you wanted a friend"

"A friend", Loki breathed out with venom. _A friend?_ "Tell me...Friend, what is it you want?"

Fury inclined that beautifully mischievous mind to look at him. He revelled in the dissonance that veiled in and out of her clenched jawed expression. The discontent of those blue orbs. Her chest heaved in a heavy breath. This would, in fact, be more fun than he initially realised.

"Oh, it must be humiliating to have to lower yoursel-"

"Shut up, Loki", Fury cut off his rant in a tone low and contemplative. She was waiting. Waiting to ask something of him. She didn't want to. He could almost see the idea crawl underneath her lightly freckled skin.

"When Valerian finds me, it can only end in war. I won't let him attain my magic. I can't...", Loki watched her throat bob with uncomfortable silence. Relishing in the difficulty it took her to spit out her thought. _Tragic_

"Take it", Fury gritted her teeth, holding out her arm in gesture. "What?", Loki stumbled over the words, angling his head in case he had misheard.

"You want power. Take mine...I'm offering it to you", She repeated.

"And why...why would you offer me such a gift?", Loki hounded with mistrust. Surely he hadn't gained her meaningless pity.

"Because despite your intolerable presence and innate narcissism, magic is the one thing you treat with respect. You wouldn't dare tempt the bounds of it.",

The God of Mischief narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"...I'm dead what use would your magic serve?", Loki spoke simply, gaining a smirk from Fury's crimson lips.

"We both know you won't stay dead. God of Mischief", She was indeed an intellect among his people.

"When your immortality is taken and you feel deaths cold grasp. Mercifully take it upon yourself to assume I am finished associating with you Half-breed "

"Pathetic and predictable. What's to miss?", It was their goodbye, the best they would get from each other.

"My overwhelming knowledge of magic and unchallenged intellect", It was a well-rehearsed quip that failed to meet her agreement.

"Loki", She wasn't in the exact mood for his quips or him for that point. To hear his name beneath those rose coloured lips that formed a thin line in her defiance. Euphoric in the desperateness that escaped the rough tone of her voice. What once was deep and commanding now wavering into carefully thought words. Light in her tone but still just as deadly in her eyes. Frigga, she reminded him of Frigga in her vulnerability. So light in her tone but so able to destroy him if he took advantage.

"Hmmm", His feet trailed in circles around her, like he was examining the invisible aura of her power that had faded to a dull mist to touch. Humans and Asgardians couldn't see nor feel the presence of magic, but he could, Frigga could also. He doubted Fury had any such ability, not that he could peek into her mind to see. That beautifully sadistic mind had walls, impenetrable walls made of stone. Always up in her waking moments.

He hadn't felt her power since she had drained so much of it into her useless endeavour to save his brother. He wondered if it would pack near the same punch. His fingers fluttered against the wind, opening Fury's eyes to the overpowering emerald shadow that clung to him, that swirled with vigour around the balcony, so vibrant in pulsating energy. The veil he opened was the world through a magical being's eyes. A world that Valerian saw and in that world Fury was brighter than a homing beacon, burning in a shadow of colours only seen within the Bifrost. Red, Blue, Purple, Green, Yellow, Orange and Pink all backlit and bordered by a pulsating white light that was almost blinding to behold.

Fury didn't seem to hold his expression of awe, watching the reflection of his emerald orbs pulsate with life. Her eyes trailed the unimpressive green shadow that emitted from his power, spanning over the city in a ghostly wave. Awe utter awestruck. He prepared himself for a surprise but not this.

It wouldn't matter if Valerian died by her hand. He had a feeling Valerian was the reason she was still alive, that his bounty had kept her alive. Beings would come from unworldly places to steal that kind of power. Perhaps they'd keep her alive while the magic was torn from her being. Perhaps they'd kill her. It didn't matter now.

"Dear Fury, You make an irrefutable offer. I will be your saviour", Loki lowered his voice that radiated with child-like awe and wonder. He shut the veil to keep from distraction. Her mouth curled into a sinister smirk that returned her rough tone of disdain.

"My hero", She spat with an effort to keep from rolling her eyes.


	18. Verdict

Verdict

A decision

* * *

A light vibrant and glittering wafted through the night bound sky, the first of many lanterns to flutter higher and higher upwards. Underneath their luminous glow, Thor Odinson's face grew grim with grief. A soft smile was offered toward his band of friends but faded ever so quickly. In the darkness, his friends didn't see it. They retreated back to the comforts of the city, fading into the hoards of townspeople, leaving Thor alone. His fingers caressed the soft stone surface of the railing that held him away from the river beneath. His eyes seemed to place her before her steps met his ears.

"Fury, I suspect you will not be staying to call Asgard home",

Fury held her wool-lined jacket close to her in the brisk wind that no longer pelted with rain, replying softly.

"No",

"It was my pleasure to have fought alongside you", He breathed out with a dull smile, his voice so deep she thought she felt the earth sway under its thunder. Fury opened her mouth to reply, stilted by the black strands of hair that swirled into a blonde and ivory dreadlock. No doubt Loki's hair. It was a strange sentiment.

"That house we inhabited on Midgard. The one in the woods. It is owned by SHIELD. An Avenger could live out his days there without a single worry.", Her voice was gruff against the coldness. Thor smiled with thanks, his arms gathering her into a soft embrace. His hulking mass almost consumed her smaller form. The warmth he emitted was the polar opposite of his cold-skinned reptile of a brother. Those hulking hands settled against her shoulders. So affectionate in his actions that she was almost taken aback to be treated with such equality. A half-breed.

"You have been kind to me, Fury. Please, stay if you wish. Asgard will always offer you solace.", A smile peaked at the corners of his mouth. A smile unlike that he had offered Sif and The Warriors Three. They were warriors above people. Fury seemed a person above being a warrior. And though she didn't feel it he did see her as a warrior. Not a half-breed. Not a monster.

"I am no Asgardian", Fury replied with a sinking feeling in her chest. A thin line formed on his lips that followed a contemplative breath, his hands slid from her shoulders falling at his side.

"Heimdall", Thor's blue eyes peeked above Fury's silver hair, toward the golden-eyed gatekeeper.

"You're late, I assumed you'd still be here", Heimdall's deep voice filled the night air, his footsteps soundless in approach. His eyes hovered on Fury for a moment. Judging perhaps. Scrutinizing the fanged creature, maybe. Possibly just acknowledging her lowly existence. Thor resumed his depressed stature, not wanting to keep his friend waiting.

"I hope to see you again, Fury", Thor bowed his head toward her and walked past Heimdall toward the Bifrost. The dark-skinned man met her eyes, his mind pulsating with thoughts. He stared. How rude. Fury's lips curled into a smirk under his scrutiny. He spoke after a while.

"I'll keep the Bifrost open for you", And with that, he marched away from her, back to his post.

"How kind", She murmured hatefully under her breath. Behind her, she could hear the gathering of Loki's funeral, hushed voices that watched with no sadness, with no pity. Her eyes flickered to the corpse that was set alight, floating gently against the river. Asgardians gathered and sang in memory across the bank.

"Shit", Fury cursed, her heart beating still against her chest. She had signed over her powers to him, The God of Mischief. A blood contract that would come into fruition upon the release of his spirit. She walked slowly to the citadel, acknowledging the feeling of overgrown plants that touched her sensitive skin, the roughness of the stringy red leaves attached to a deep blue flower. The solid coldness of the grey cobblestone path beneath the soles of her boots.

The floating lights of Asgard lead her back to the palace, to the foyer that held those black stairs to her room. One by one the wooden stairs disappeared beneath her feet, then the landing. Seven more steps to the top. One. Two. Three. Four. Five...

She felt the grace lift from underneath her skin. No. Her power abandoned her veins with excited haste. She reached for them as they floated above her in an iridescent mist. One breath...two breaths...three-

A yelp escaped her lips from the blinding pain that forced her boots to retreat gracelessly down the stairs. Her fast feet reached for the lower step, regaining her balance. Her hands curled into claws at her side, gripping onto the wooden texture of the stairs. She dropped. Lower and lower onto the dark emerald rug that ran up the middle of the steps. Amidst the pulses of agonizing pain that tore through her being, she thought of her home on Vanaheim, A world of sorcery and magic. In her mind, she traced the dark bricks of Valerian's palace with her hand. Counting each one. She revelled one last time in building those walls in her mind to keep him out, remembering the first time she had. The indignant scowl that painted his face. For the first time in a century she laid down those walls and from the shadows, a black swirling entity prowled towards her vulnerable body. Slowly at first then quicker, she lifted herself as it slammed into her chest, thrusting her through the air and down the sharp decline of steps. Terror gripped her heart as her body began to fall. The stairs crushed and shattered bone with a malicious pace. The world span and span until it stopped at the nadir of the staircase.

Blood pulsed in her ears and dribbled from her lips in a crimson stream but her eyes stayed with the black creature that hovered at the top of the staircase, watching her broken body with a silent victory.

"Fury!", A muted voice caused the creature to flee with haste. Her eyes met the figure who knelt next to her. She wheezed softly.

"I thought you were dead",


	19. Monster

Monster

_Any animal or human grotesquely deviating from normal shape or behaviour._

* * *

Consciousness. A bitter reality. Within it, a vomit-inducing taste crested against her lips. She felt dizzy and sore. Her aching limbs were almost excruciating.

What the hell? Her eyes flashed open against the brightness of the rising morning sun that blinded her through the crack in the drapes. A hiss escaped her dry vocal cords. She tried to move but her limbs cried in agony against it.

"Argh", Fury's arm recoiled to her shield her blurred and burning sight. Her hand was covered and bulky. It was wrapped in a black cast from her knuckle to her forearm.

"What?", A whimper escaped her lips as her eyes settled upon the destruction of the room. Shattered glass surrounded her, smeared in layers of crimson splatter. Blood. Her heart began racing. Racing so fast she thought it might burst from her chest. Chained. She was chained against the wall like a beast. The shackle tore at the skin of her wrist with heartless malice.

She fell. She fell down the stairs. She was supposed to be dead. Instead, she was shackled to a wall in a white ward. A medical ward? Her gaze scanned the overturned bed and the tubular apparatus that still clung to it.

"It was a precaution...the chains", A voice echoed through the emptiness of the ward. The figure stepped towards her from the arched doorway. Thor. His tone was low and his eyes darted in avoidance. Her gaze caught the bandaging against his neck. A thick white gauze. Venom rose within her tone to disguise the hollowness that consumed her chest.

"What...w?"

The bitter taste against her tongue forced her chest to heave with realization. "No". It was blood. Blood that coated her tongue with a metallic aftertaste. She wanted to heave up what was left in her stomach but her throat was so dry and raw it burned just at the thought. She bit him... she splattered the crimson mess onto the floor. With no healers in sight, she could only assume that he wasn't the only victim.

"What happened?", Her voice was as coarse as sandpaper. He had never looked at her like she was a wild beast before. But he did now. His arms crossed over his chest as he neared her with cautious steps. He asked with an undertone of anger.

"What deal did you make with Loki?",

"Excuse me?", Fury replied with her mind in a boggle. A deal?. She would never. Not again. Her orbs watched his chest heave with uprising rage.

"His magic spared your life. He didn't do so out of kindness. What deal did you make to acquire the immortality of a God?", He was harsher this time, his voice so angry. She breathed out with the same anger.

"I didn't make a deal",

She pulled at the shackle on her wrist, hissing at the burning red mark it left. His blue orbs followed her struggle, daring to unchain the beast. His hand flicked open the latch and she was free. He met her eyes with a conflicted expression, his face contorted slightly at the sight. She asked "What?",

"I think it's best you see yourself", Thor held out an aiding hand and lead her to the mirror on the wall. One of the few objects that hadn't been torn off the wall.

She flickered her eyes toward the reflection. The sight caught her breath in her throat. Red...her eyes were red. Her fangs coated in Thor's blood. A vampire stared back at her. She blinked away from it but the vampire was still there when she opened her eyes. Every time. Every breath. Tears stung in a trail drown her cheek. Everywhere she looked there was blood.

"Go", She commanded with frailty. She knew he could see it in her eyes. The weakness and overwhelming turmoil that burned her in an avalanche of complete and utter despondence. It left her void of feeling. All but two emotions. She Hated Asgard, She hated it with all her being. She hated that Trickster. The God of Mischief. She hated him with all the fires of hell.

"Fury", She shied away from the God who despite his rage, enveloped her with a hesitant embrace. It wasn't unlike him to show affection but his hesitance was strange. His chest was warm. So warm that it made her realize she had been close to freezing against the floor. Words vibrated from the depths of his chest. A voice that was so deep and calming.

"You're cold",

"I know", She sniffled, bowing her head into his chest. Her voice was muffled and weak,

"Thor, I signed my power to Loki. I don't understand. What happened?",

The blonde-haired God opened his mouth to respond. To ask why, but he closed it once more.

"Fury. I can only tell you what I know and that is the healers found foreign energy within your body, keeping you alive. They matched it to a sample of Loki's blood. The same magic, the same energy...They refused to heal you any further.",

The blood contract. That mischievous little bastard. He tricked her. Shocker. But why? Why would he want her alive? To have his immortality.

Fury stepped out of his embrace, wiping the blood off her lips with her miserable cast.

"Thor", She hesitated, motioning to the gauze against his skin.

"...I'm sorry", Her voice was stronger than it had been as she surveyed the damage of the ward. She had never bitten anyone before. Never stained her teeth with the blood of another. She wasn't a vampire. She wasn't...

"How did I...", She cleared her throat, unable to complete her thought. Thor spoke softly, glancing at the broken glass on the floor.

"I don't know what you saw in your waking moments Furya. But you were livid when I came. You kept calling me 'Valerian' and then...well", He motioned to the bandage on his neck. "The healers barely had time to escape",

Furya? When did he ever call her Furya? It didn't matter. Goddamn Valerian. Had he found her? She knew she saw his shadow lurk at the top of the stairs, watching her die. The thought tingled her spine in a chill.

"Wait. Then whose blood is this?", Thor cleared his throat, meeting a piece of crumpled glass under his boot. He almost forgot that she didn't recall her outburst.

"...Sif shot you through the window with a spear when you...bit me. It's yours.",

Fury was silent. So silent. There was nothing she could say. Nothing that would rectify what she was being told. She must have hit the ground hard. It would have knocked her out. Someone must have healed her while she was sleeping. She should have felt the spear wound but she didn't. Who? Who would heal her? The woman who bargained with The God Of Mischief.

"Who's Valerian?", Thor spoke the words she hoped he wouldn't.

"My Husband", She silenced his pending question with ease. "Until death did us part". Her cast bound arm brandished the black prison tattoo. A reminder of her victory. The man she had burned alive.

"Thor", Sif entered the ward without warning, eyeing the dark marking on Fury with disdain.

"Odin seeks your council ", Her dark hair glistened under the dim lights and her armour clanged softly with her motion. He looked to Fury and hesitated in his obedience.

"I will look after her", She reassured with a vague smile. "Go",

Her smile faded quickly with his distancing footsteps. Sif eyed the woman who had once beaten her in a fight. Who now looked so weak and breakable.

"You have two days to leave Asgard...after that, I will not ask nicely." She carelessly tossed Fury some clean garments. "Now clean yourself, beast",

"Actually", Fury caught the clothes with her unbroken wrist, they crinkled in her iron grip, softening the fingernails that dug into her palm. A beast. She smiled a wicked smile, it was somewhat psychopathic. "I think I'll stay",


	20. Ruin

**Ruin**

_The physical destruction or disintegration of something or the state of disintegrating or being destroyed._

* * *

Three days dragged by. Ticking. ticking. Slower and slower beneath the eyes of the monster that childishly hugged her knees to her chest below the defiant crack of light that streamed through the crimson drapes. She held out her shaky fingers to touch it, the meagre glow of sun that chased away the shadow of her chamber. It was warm, so warm against her deathly chill. The extravagant filigree woven clock that floated against the wall in its golden awe became more taunting than helpful. That damn ticking. She wanted to rip it off the ugly red wall and launch it out of the window. It diverted her mind from being thrown into a wing the guards had locked from the outside. Once again Loki's dwelling was home to only one. A palace for one person. A prison.

The desolate palace had won two for two out of the inhabitant monsters that dwelłed within. Both the God of Mischief and herself had snapped within the ranks. Those red eyes. Those goddamn red eyes. They broke her. They broke her worse than the mind splitting migraines or agonizing aches with her bones. She hurt so badly but nothing was more immobilizing than those crimson orbs staring back at her.

No healer could...no healer would help her. No one would ease her body into the transformation it was to undergo. She was a God...A Goddess? One who resembled a vagabond lazing against the dark carpet that cushioned her prison. She ached. How she ached. It hurt to move. To breathe. To think.

She stayed pressed against that hideous crimson wall for a while, breathing in with every pulse of pain. It helped to imagine that she was back in Asgard's dungeons, the first time she had met Loki face to face, but instead of making conversation she drove her blade straight through his neck and he bled out on the shiny floor. It made her jaw clench in agony. That wretched pest.

Sleep aided with her recovery but to fall asleep when her limbs felt shattered and her body quivered from the agony was inconceivable. Her grey Hooded jacket and long pants stuck to her like a second skin from the cold sweat. It had to end. The pain had to end. She hated it with all she had.

Fury didn't notice the blood surging from her nails buried deeply into the carpet, touching the solidness underneath. Flesh against stone. Her body bounded off the wall and to her feet she rose with her hands shaking from the agonizing wave of pain the surged through her chest. A sharp breath escaped the thin line of her lips. That fucking clock ticked with the range of a drum being played right in her ear. Red eyes shot toward it. It reminded her of what Loki had done. Of what she was. Of the unbearable aching in her bones. Her chest heaved. Tears encompassed her vision blinding her with their hateful frustration. A thought so dark entered her mind forcing her hand to curl at her side. Tingling ever so slightly.

The golden tendrils of filigree buckled with terror. What? Her eyebrow raised in question as the glass casing exploded in a violent splatter of white shards. She covered her eyes from the battering assault of glass but felt the sharp edges cut into her cheek and neck. Her arms shuddered. Her red eyes glanced over her forearms that bled with beads of crimson from the shallow holes barring her left wrist that had been shielded by the black cast. She stumbled back from the red wall with fear. She didn't stop until her shoulder rebounded off the wall closest to her neglected bed. The ground welcomed her back into its arms. A fire burnt in her core, spreading through her with its tormenting throb. So ferocious and mean.

Her throat was too dry to vomit from the agony. A sorrowful groan echoed through the darkness. She laid her head against the cool floor, flicking the tatty silver strands of hair from her eyes. It burned. It burned with more ferocity than she could bear. Fingernails clawed into the soft carpet. She uttered a helpless yelp.

A softness swept against her cheek, A hand. Someone spoke before collecting her body into strong arms. Help. She needed help. Would they help her?

"Will you help me?", She murmured sleepily. She suddenly felt so tired. Exhausted. A rumbling voice echoed from her saviour's chest.

"Furya. You are a beacon of light, a catalyst of power burning so bright and ferociously. I don't believe you need it.", That vibrating voice boomed with tenderness and care, placing her against the mattress. She tried to open her eyes to see but they were too heavy to flutter. Their breath tickled her cheek.

"Sleep",

"I can't", She groaned through a wave of uncomfortable pain in her chest.

"You can and when the sun shines on your skin again you will tear yourself off this decrepit bedding and seek answers."

* * *

There was no fire in her veins, no warmth within her body. She felt cold. So cold as she sat at the top of the staircase, staring down. Her hands were clamped over one another, offering little warmth. She had changed from her baggy night garments that began to dirty from three days of restlessness. Fury wore her heavy boots and tight-fitting cargo pants with a thick tank. Even though it was cold she didn't throw a jacket over herself. She liked the feeling of the cold. It was something so new but not unfamiliar. She had spent too many nights curled against the warmthless floor. Too many nights cursing it's icy wrath that shook her bones.

A week she had stayed in her prison of pain and despair. She had enough. Enough loathing. Enough darkness. Enough pain. She wanted answers. So when her eyes opened from her restless sleep and her body began to ache with malice she silenced the begging whimper that pleaded for her to curl up underneath that crack of sun. Instead of taking those four steps to the gold-framed window she took four to the left. Instead of hugging her knees to her chest to weep she changed from her stale clothes. Instead of waiting for the aching to cease she strode out the mahogany wooden door that stood so beautifully in her wake. The door that was encrusted with intricated swirling designs had shuddered under her wrath. The lengthy handle that curled in the same theme didn't dare halt her.

Her staring eyes watched the afternoon sun cast shadows against the foot of the steps through the stained glass window the crawled up the height of the palace. It's coloured glass pictured Loki with his horned helmet. That loathsome creature who had outwitted her mischief. The one who had saved her.

She was yet to speculate why. Why he would want her immortal. Why strengthen her?

Though she told him otherwise he was indeed unpredictable. Perhaps that's why he did it. To revel in the chaos that would ensue once Odin found her well enough to come before his judgment. To reveal a double-cross perhaps. All that mattered was that her situation didn't look good at face value. A protector of realms, A mercenary corrupted by Loki. An accused adulterer between his family now made immortal wouldn't be received well. Yet the worst she feared was the betrayal of Asgard's queen. Frigga had employed her, pleaded with her to bring Loki's innocence to light or else send him to his death. She had an idea for what she was to be labelled. Faithless. Asgard's whore.

A corrupted harlot. Perhaps that was Loki's plan. To see her exiled from Earth and Asgard. To have her disgraced and sent to an unholy land to live out her days. No. She had one better. A move that was most wicked and mischievous. One that would drag Loki through whatever judgment she was to face. If she were banished, he was coming with her.

She had eyed off his room, the black door when she left her tomb for the first time in three days. Could she even summon him without her magic? Could she return his? Why would she try after he turned her into a vampire?

Those cursed red eyes. She saw them every time her mind began to rest. She didn't have the heart to glance in her reflection, having torn down the mirror in her chamber for good measure. She couldn't bear the sight.

Boredom struck her after an hour of staring into nothingness. Listening to the still sound of silence. Her mind battled between finding answers or keeping what was left of her sanity. _Fuck it_. She peeled herself off the polished floor, stomping toward the black door. Her slender fingers yanked it open, hearing it slam against the wall. Eyes searched through the dust-ridden room, settling on the Book of Shadows that was dumped on the floor.

She spoke the words from page 882 with fire in her tone. The green comforter crinkled under her bodyweight as she sat with her ankles crossed on the bottom on the four-poster bed. The heavy book shifted the mattress in the flight toward the wall. It landed with a thump. She was all but patient. Where was he?!

"Was it too much to ask that you leave me-

"Shut up", The words came with a wave of violent anger. Her eyes glared at the figure that appeared from the shadows. His emerald orbs narrowed, staring. A smirk spread replaced his insulted frown. It made the violence that swirled in her mind multiply twofold. She wanted him to suffer.

"Oh, my"

"What did you do?", Her voice snapped at him, daring to taunt the God. She launched her steps forward. Dreaming only to hit him. To make him bleed. His ghostly transparency told her she wouldn't get her wish.

"I made you a God, dear Fury", Loki replied with mock insult, his words quick and precise.

"You turned me into a beast", She hated how her voice wavered toward someone she shouldn't have shown such weakness to. She darted her sight to the pile of books to her left.

"A meagre price for immortality.", Loki scoffed. He made the anger in her veins boil to the brink. How she wanted him to suffer. She had to squeeze her hand at her side to restrain herself. A tingling feeling vibrated in her fingers.

"It is nothing you weren't already accustomed to", She waved her hand to silence him but a groaning crash stopped her mid-motion. The chandelier above them fell from the ceiling with an almighty thunder, spraying glass at her feet. She was safe, shielded under Loki's protective green mist. The decorative ironwork clattered against the polished floors. Loki's eyes followed it as it rebounded then settled, leaving sharp indents on the hard floor. His expression was calculated and questioning all in the same. A moment later his expression was replaced with a maleficent scowl. He looked murderous.

"You evil little witch", Loki, smirked a sinister grin. His eyes sparkled with fascination. "Just how did you harness my magic?".

Fury met the emerald orbs that fluttered above her, a mirroring smirk painted her lips. His transparent body towered over her with a threatening closeness.

"The blood contract", Her words were hidden with a victorious might as her tongue ran over the outline of her teeth. She knew that meddling trickster would jump at the chance to obtain her magic. It was only too easy to snare him with her trap. Her insurance if he double-crossed her. He could hand out immortality like it was a raffle ticket. A sorcerer so powerful.

Without an active power, he would have gotten what he wanted. Her secrets. Her life. He would have won. And how she loved the expression on his face. The confusion, the scowl. It was not as though she stole from him. The magic no longer recognized him, he told her as much. She merely made use of what he could not.

"You have bound yourself to me", His words went cold as his emerald eyes spied the additional tendrils of black ink swirling into curved horns against the nape of her neck. Around it protective runes began to appear, glowing a bright green. His long fingers were quick to tear open the neck of his tunic. She smirked at his expression. He scowled at her brand of glowing blue flame that faded into swirling black lines. It was placed just at his collar, A mirroring spot as hers.

"Matching tattoos already and we haven't even been on a first date", Fury chided. It was the suffering she had wanted to see from him. It made her feel powerful. She spoke

"I guess this makes you my bitch",

Loki's eyebrow hiked in its place, his expression a little less calm.

"And you mine", Scowling venom shattered his impeccable patience. He opened his mouth to speak, eyeing off the bookcase, turning his sight back to her red eyes. He was lost for words. Finally.

Suddenly his ghost disappeared from her sight. A smile painted her lips. A devious thought entered her mind, making her new tattoo tingle with a green glow. Loki. She thought of The trickster and there he was before her again.

"Oh, this could be fun",

He sighed with a roll of his eyes and vanished again. Loki.

"Stop it!", His well-mannered voice echoed in her mind.

"Bite me", Fury bit back.

"My pleasure", That polite accent purred at her ear. Fury shrugged away the chill it gave her, stepping forward from his shadow, almost into his illusion's blade that stabbed from the front. Really? She raised her hand and the dagger crumpled into a wall of iridescent mist. It triggered the illusion to disappear, leaving him towering over her back with a childish frown.

"Predictable, partner, predictable", She teased as his Emerald orbs met her cast bound wrist. Pain rippled in her shattered joint. He kept his unblinking stare on her red eyes as he motionlessly sent green waves of power to attack her injured bone. A high pitched yelp escaped her lungs.

"Fury!", Thor's booming voice queued Loki's disappearing act. She gripped her cast with shallow breaths to ease the agony. Her head snapped to the figure that burst through the black door with such haste it shut itself after slamming against the tapered wall.

_You miserable little c-_

_Now, dear Fury do not be bashful, _Loki's tauntingly irritating accent pried into her mind in response. She startled at the sensation.

"Fury", Thor looked her over without a care for her space or any formality. His hand pressed gently against the cast like he would accidentally shatter it without the utmost care.

"Argh, it's fine I just...", She glanced at the chandelier that was scattered over the ground In pieces of black iron. "Almost got impaled is all", Fury softly returned her black cast to her side.

"What are you doing in here?",

"I was making my own fun", Fury breathed out bitterly toward the man who had disappeared for the last three days.

"...Right", His blue eyes ran over the shattered chandelier then settled back on her. "How are you-"

"Feeling? I feel like I was just thrown down some stairs and turned into a vampire", She hissed in an assertive tone, her eyes narrowed. She felt like he had abandoned her in her time of need. He told her she was a monster then left. No note, no message. Just gone for three days. Her friend that she had rescued from Alaska. That she had cared for.

A smile curled at the corners of his mouth. A laugh that was so contagious. She never thought she would have said such a thing.

"Don't you dare laugh", He broke the anger that swelled in her chest, forcing a chuckle to escape her lips. She stared into his blue eyes that were so innocent, that she was so envious of. They darted to the crimson cuts of her forearms and against her neck. She had felt the deepest slice against her jaw.

"I've not been doing well...", Fury breathed out, her steps retreating from Loki's prison. Thor was silent, contemplative while he followed after her with striding steps. Fury was exhausted after a few paced steps. Out of shape and just about dead. Great.

"Fury", The blonde-haired God gripped her bicep softly.

"Where. The hell. were you?", She spat, biting back the choice words that tempted her. He stepped back, stumbled back.

"Do I scare you now? Why the hell are you acting like a little bitc-"

_He didn't retreat. You shielded yourself from the witless oaf, how heartbreaking. A lover's spat. I do hope you work it out. _

_Loki, I know you may be used to this but fuck off and die quietly. _

"Fury", Thor's booming voice broke her dissonance. How strange it must have been for her to just space out mid-conversation. A low chuckle echoed in the background of her mind. The God of Thunder raised his brow in what she could only assume was a dire concern.

"...I was convincing Odin to allow you to stay. To show your worth...after you were dismissed from your duty of guarding Earth and Asgard.", He delivered the news with an unwavering tone. Dismissed. Thrown aside. What news to kick her while she was down. Her jaw hardened with disdain.

"My hero", She spat with fire, pushing past his outstretched hand and down the black stairs to the dragon's keep.


	21. Absolution

Absolution

_To absolve or forgive_

* * *

"Furya", Odin's bellowing voice echoed through the hall. The afternoon sun glinted softly off the gold-encrusted staff he wielded. His one eye watched her with intrigue. She walked at a violently brisk pace that raised the guard's spears. Like she would be so stupid to attack their King. The men in golden helmets watched her like she were a prisoner. One stepped forward to further amplify their distrust of her. His dull brown eyes narrowed at her as Odin spoke.

"How did you-"

"Escape?", She finished the sentence with a strong bitterness. It silenced the hall. Not a single sound bounded off the tall pillars. The king looked at her with contemplation, almost seeming torn or uneasy. She had never seen him so anxious. For a being so old and all-knowing it was aberrant. His mint green-robed form seemed bursting with perplex. Odin bowed his head to the armoured guards, dismissing them from his side as she stopped at the foot of his pedestal.

"My son seems to disagree with my actions. I apologise if you saw them as cruel. But you attacked my warriors and my only Offspring. After course stealing Loki's grace. Naturally, I was not thinking in your favour", Odin justified without sympathy, standing from his throne. "Come", He motioned for her to follow and she did, if only to seek answers. They entered a darkened corridor where his voice didn't echo as it did in the amphitheatre of a hall. "I imagine Loki knew how agonising it would be to transform a half-breed into a Goddess. Your body was meant to decay and die. What you felt was your bones strengthening, your body adapting. I can see already your skin glows and though you were not a burden on the eye before, your beauty is unchallenged as a goddess. A goddess of what is the question...", The grey-haired king shuffled his staff in his grip. Fury breathed out with agitation, she could only assume what he wanted from her. His hands swiped at the dust on the lip of a potted plant that was nestled between two pillars. The pot-bellied pillars shadowed the courtyard below, particularly a stringy leafed tree that piqued her interest. It seemed an ideal place to read. Her focus moved back on the king as he continued.

"The wild people that live within the mountains have forged an uprising. They are a magical community. Outcasts because of their disruptive behaviour. For years they have been trying to infiltrate Asgard, to take the throne. Loki was my negotiator but it seems now I am left without. If you seek absolution you'll go see Myra in the armoury for weapons, but first, you need to learn to use Loki's power. And How to fight without yours. For that, you'll see Thor in the training yards in an hour. "

"Who said I wanted Absolution?", Fury hissed but Odin's face didn't falter.

"Your job will not be to negotiate. Peace has not worked in our favour. Now you must make them fearful of the recompense of their hate", He seemed to altogether ignore her comment. She spoke with her hands on her hips.

"Out of all your warriors, why me?",

"Because you're expendable...because you are the only one who can. If Loki entrusted you with his magic then he trusted you to battle the Wildmen", That one eye fixated on her pout. He wanted to send her because no one would care if she died...she would be a scapegoat. An easily pinned victim. An idiot. Fury bitterly responded, folding her arms at her chest with her cast scratching against her cuts.

"What exactly have they done?",

"Palace staff have been abducted without a trace. Just this morning we found the remains of a young girl who had been reported missing yesterday. Her hair had been turned completely white from fear and her eyes drained of colour. She was brutalised. Her life force was torn from her. Ripped from unwilling hands. Last month we captured a Wildling before he could flee with one of the kitchen staff. It is the same time every occurrence. The sixth day of the new month. Find them. Draw them out and kill them",

Fury's jaw hardened in thought, her mind flickered to the mental picture of the brutalised girl. So fearful and weak. She had to. There was no way she could consciously let these palace staff suffer the same fate.

"When you are prepared enough, see the wildling in the prison. He will speak", Odin's voice faltered with lost thought. He was devastated that his staff had been killed, that his people had been mercilessly brutalised without reason.

"I am doing this for your people. Not for you", She grumbled and set towards the courtyard to find the armoury she knew to be within the right-wing of the palace.

* * *

"I assume you're Myra", Fury eyed the tall and muscular woman that swaggered toward her with narrowed eyes, her brown orbs stared without concern of offence. She was bound in heavy brown leather armour that clung to her with every step. Her ringlets of chocolate brown hair bounced with defiance from her tightly gathered bun. Fury eyed her tan skin that displayed an array of thin white scars.

"And you are the vampire", Her voice was just as She suspected it would be monotonic and laced with an Asgardian accent, the same smoothness Loki bore in his tone. Fury spoke.

"What gave me away?", Myra smiled underneath her bravado.

"What will it be?", The muscular woman motion to the wall of spears, hatchets, bows and swords.

"I used to opt for a sword or gun...what would you recommend?", Fury's voice was light in memory of her lost magic. Loki's voice infiltrated her mind without warning.

_None of these toys will bear my magic_

_"_None of these", Myra smiled and pulled open a compartment within the metal shelving against the wall. She pulled out a sword with an iridescent blade. Its hilt was mounted with a silver flame, swirling around the precious metal. Fury grasped the deep purple grip as Myra handed it to her. It felt light and easily moved in her hand. It was long. About four maybe five feet in length as opposed to her usual small blade. It was something to get used to.

_That's better. Now focus your power into the amethyst heart of the hilt. _

Fury glanced to the blade, her red eyes fixated on that purple crystal in the centre of the hilt. The dormant flame shape sparked with a stirring light, illuminating the silver hilt in tendrils of purple. The soft cushioned grip jumped in her palm as violet tendrils of light burst from the iridescent blade in a violent urgency. The feeling was euphoric.

_"_I thought as much", Myra chided, the purple light reflected off her brown eyes. Fury turned her attention back to the Asgardian warrior._ "_That blade was found amongst the wildmen, A magical people. I figured you would have to be descended from them. No half-breed could ever wield such power as you do.",

_Perfect_

"It's perfect", Fury spoke in a voice above a whisper.

"Then it's yours", Myra handed over the black scabbard and two matching daggers with accompanying thigh holsters.

"Thank you", Fury nodded her head in thanks. She walked out of the chain-link covered room but halted to speak.

"These wilder people. Do you know much of them?", Myra looked back to Fury, the ghost of a smile played on her thick lips.

"Meet me in the library after my rounds. I'll see what I can help you with", She sighed, gathering her sword by her side.

"Why would you help me?", Fury asked,

"Because like you, I revel in chaos", Myra commented and left the armoury with urgency.

* * *

The training yards were not difficult to find at the back of the palace, down the stone steps of the Courtyard and through the garden path she found the fenced area that resembled a football field. An array of weapons sat against the chainlink fencing that was no ordinary chain-link she found acter it zapped at her fingers. Her newly acquired sword sat firmly between her shoulder blades, pressed tightly against her tactical vest. Her mind wandered to the Wildmen. To her task of dominating them. How Odin would have assumed she was a relative. That he was a manipulative liar. But yet again, so was she.

A swoosh of rippling wind queued Thor's arrival.

"Fury", His head bowed in acknowledgement as she eyed his silver armour and red cape. Red. How she despised that colour. Those blue eyes clashed against hers, his face noting surprise, travelling over her face.

"You look...well", He complimented. She hadn't seen this ethereal beauty that she had been informed about. She still couldn't stand those red eyes. If a mirror did pass her by she felt she'd shatter it from her rage.

"Now I can sleep at night", She irritably hissed.

"Fury, you haven't given me a chance to apologise. I am truly sorry for abandoning you. I suppose you did scare me there for a while. But I saw that my fear was unjustified. When I came to your aid, you were fine. You didn't need me.", Thor spoke without fear of being overheard in the empty field surround by forestry.

"You'll be absolved when I know how to use this power",

Thor breathed out, his armoured chest heaved in its might. So muscular and alluring in its glory. His arms crossed over his broad chest.

"I can only teach you what Loki showed me. What I was a victim to", His blonde hair swayed in the breeze as he stepped behind her. He scanned over her form. His breath at her neck sent a chill down her spine. It was uncomfortable. An unwanted voice popped into her mind

_Oh how sweet, does he know about your miserable attraction?_

Thor's shadow moved quickly behind her, that hulking body struck quickly. Fury leapt from his range, spinning to face his oncoming attack. She was mad. So mad. At him, at Loki. At herself. She ducked his blow and swung her leg into the back of his knee, jamming her shoulder into his waist. His back collided into the grass sounding a damp thud with Fury atop him in her vicious tackle_. _Her rage had knocked a God on his back. She hovered above his childish smile that taunted her, her forearm was pressed viciously against his windpipe, her cast holding down Mjolnir at his side. She pinned him underneath her muscled body that trembled from the effort. The air was thick with tension. She was so close to his unshaven face, such a handsome man, yet all she wanted to do was hit him. To send her magic to pin him down while she punched. Her body quivered with rage above him. She was sure he felt it, sure he saw it on her face.

"I thought you left", She spat with a heaving chest, pinning him to the dirt. He didn't flail or push her off. His eyebrow raised, that deep voice vibrated under his armour, under her knee against his sternum.

"I couldn't leave...not when Asgard was in such panic", His voice queued a deep fog to roll in from the neighbouring mountains. Fury breathed out a stilted sigh, releasing him from her grasp. She fell flat beside him, the sword against her back dug in deep into the grass. The lowering sun revealed to them the dim stars above in a sky painted in blue, pink and purple rays of colours. She felt his hand rest against her wrist with reassurance.

"You have the strength of a god", His hand rubbed against his throat, scrunching his face in discomfort. A chuckle escaped her lips as she sat up from the grass. She held one knee to her chest with the other leg splayed in front of her. Her arms propped behind her back. He mirrored her action, swiping the sword from between her shoulder blades. His heavy fingers lightly stroked the metal blade.

"It's a nice blade", Thor commented lightly.

"It's not just a blade", She took the silver hilt from his hands, summoning the purple mist with more ease than before. Yet still, she hadn't become familiar to the recoil of the magic that jumped against her grip. The glowing light illuminated his eyes that sparkled with a child-like wonder. He spoke an idea.

"Summon the mist without your sword",

"How?", Fury sheathed the weapon and met those piercing blue eyes.

"Loki had this annoying habit of staring straight into my eyes while summoning a decoy of himself to stab me", Thor explained with more normalcy than she expected, she assumed he had become acquainted with Loki's tricks.

"...Okay", She breathed out and met his crushing blue orbs. So far she was just staring at him. Nothing happened. Her eyebrow raised after a moment passed and still no magic. She thought of exactly what she wanted her magic to do and then...nothing.

"Perhaps it only works a certain way for different beholders.", Thor shrugged off the disappointing attempt only to speak again.

"I would, however, appreciate it if you showed me what manoeuvre you used to apprehend me",

"Sure", Fury leapt off the grass and taught him her evasive technique. For a man so bulky and heavy he moved quicker than she expected, it made him easier to teach than if he were dumb and slow. They sparred in hand to hand combat for a few rounds then switched to their magically possessed weaponry. Using only precautionary blows. She imagined the sword would be easier to manoeuvre once she could use both hands to wield it. The first strike of her sword against Mjolnir sent Thor stumbling a few steps but he came back at her with that childish smile, adapting to its might. They fought until well into the darkness of night with only a few sources of light to guide them, by the time they had both had their fill Fury was trembling with exhaustion. Her chest pounded and her limbs ached from the workout.

"We meet here tomorrow at midday", Thor breathed out with exhaustion, patting her shoulder as he departed from the field. He had to be back at the palace but she had refused his offer to walk her back to the golden building. She waited until he was out of view behind the cover of the hedging.

"Loki", She breathed out, slumping onto the grass with exhaustion, her eyes drifted to the sparkling stars above.

"What?", That smooth yet irritated voice asked with annoyance. His ghost drifted to her, appearing from the darkness.

"You were awfully quiet while Thor tried to teach me to use your magic". She commented with a smirk, noting the scowl on his face.

"I was simply seeing what he had learned from me, which was not much", His emerald eyes squinted at her with a studying glance

"You look...different", He added in a voice as if ordering her to change back to how she used to appear.

"So I've been told" Fury breathed out, crossing her arms and folding her legs against the grass. He was silent. Oddly silent.

"As fun as this is, I've got to be back at the palace in half an hour, any help you have to give would be much appreciated.", She bit back the annoyed tone in her voice that cursed his existence. He furrowed his brow in an expression that asked 'Why should I help you?'.

"You know since you don't want Thor teaching me to use your magic". She added. His eyes rolled in his head and arms crossed over his chest.

"You already know how to use magic. You need to find what triggers it", He breathed out a sigh of defiance, staring at her form on the ground.

"What triggers you?", Her question was taken aback by him. He didn't want to answer.

"...Pain", She barely heard his weak response through his sorrowful eyes that tore away from her toward the forestry. "Yours, however, would seem to be anger or maybe it's just me that triggers you", That wicked smile returned to his lips.

"Maybe it is that you are indescribably infatuated with me. Without me who would you hate? Who would you loathe with such vigour, such obsession.", Loki knelt before her with uncomfortable closeness. Had he been in a corporeal form she imagined his parchment and leather tainted scent filling her senses as it had. His ghostly form was annoyingly unsatisfying to argue with. She closed her eyes and suddenly she felt the breath at her neck, she smelt that scent of leather and old books. She had him where she wanted him. Corporeal and mortally punchable. She pounced, pinning his body to the grass with her elbow pressed firmly against his paperwhite throat. Her dagger appeared in her palm without thought. No. She wanted to hit him. Wounding him was too easy. A surprised grunt came from the slender God who halved the muscle mass of his brother. Though he was seemingly weak he slipped out from her grip with stealth and strength that tossed her to the side. He was stronger than she thought.

"Hmmm...", Loki growled with excitement lighting his emerald orbs. Fury leapt to her feet to face the God, he circled her that sinister grin playing on his lips. She hated the man bound in tightly fitted leather. The God who caused her a week of agonising pain. Who branded her with red eyes. Her fist flew at his jaw, it missed but her knee connected forcefully with his ribcage. His groan of pain comforted her burning rage. Before she could kick again he blasted her back with a green forcefield.

Agonising pain rippled from her wrist and she screamed out a high pitched wail. Her cast hit the ground first, taking in the brunt of her weight on top of it.

"Argh", Tears pricked at her eyes from the breathlessness that enveloped her chest. She hated him. She hated the slender fingers that curled at her throat, that raised her to her feet. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she glared into those green eyes that tormented her. Once again that scent of leather reached her in his taunting grasp that reefed her against his chest. Those orbs darted over her face silently while his hand softly brushed against her jaw. The soreness told her he had trailed over the cut on her face. His expression was sharp and unmoving. Void of any feeling. Excitement raised in her chest but it didn't corrupt the loathing that pulsed in her veins.

She imagined him impaled on the end on her sword and suddenly she felt the long blade jump in her hand, straight through his stomach. No. The weapon quivered in her hand. What had she done?

Blood seeped from his abdomen but he didn't cry out in pain. His hand released her, his face was calm, expecting of her violence. Purple magic escaped the blade in tendrils that soothingly caressed his skin.

She didn't feel satisfied with her revenge. Fear gripped her heart as his slender body plummeted to the grass, off the end of her sword, and like she had been woken from a daydream she rushed to him. Why did she feel so scared? So worried?

"No", She whispered, dropping her sword onto the soft ground.

Her quivering hand patched his bloodied abdomen with haphazard forcefulness like she knew exactly what she was doing. Loki furrowed his brow with an out of place expression.

"Shit", Her red eyes matched the horrendous crimson liquid that spilt from the ugly wound.

"What are you doing?", The words fell softly against her ears. A sickly weak voice.

She handled his fallen form with a tenderness he would have never shown her.

"I'm not you", The words flowed like a stream. A steady reassurance of what she was made of. She met the green eyes that didn't plead or beg for her help, that looked at her with a small fascination. The lowly creature that haunted her. There was no hesitancy in her action.

Against the darkness of the night, her palm glowed with iridescence that she pressed against his gushing wound. A soft groan escaped his lips and as she took her palm away, feeling the softness of his healed flesh.

He didn't deserve it, her pity. Hell, he didn't deserve any grief over killing him. Not from her. But she did, she pitied him. She cared if he died, even if he were not there. Now he knew it. Now he would revel in the fact.

Fury retreated to her feet, spinning on her heel to walk away. The man wasn't worthy of any more of her regret, her fear in seeing him wounded, But To kill him would be to become the monster he had branded her. It hurt. Everything hurt.

A gentle tear warmed her cheek as her boots clattered against the cobblestone. It queued an uncomfortable pressure to form in her chest. It hurt to breathe against it as she wiped away her stray tears in proximity to the dark figure that lurked in the palace garden.

"You didn't let me die", Loki spoke in a higher pitch than usual as if it were a question. She breathed in through her teeth.

"My mistake",

She collected the God Of Mischief by her side in her quick walk past him. He mirrored her deep breath of air at her shoulder, halting her instantaneously as his hand gripped the skin just above her cast. Her glare warned him to let go.

The dull garden lights were put to shame by the deep green tendrils of light that licked at her skin, diving through the black cast on her wrist. The cast groaned then shattered into ribbons onto the cobblestone. Loki tapped her wrist with his finger. She cursed him thoroughly, expecting an on slaw of pain. But she felt nothing. No aches. No pains. Her wrist moved without agony. He healed her.

"I apologise, dear Fury", His well-educated speech left her silent. She had nothing. No response to that. Before she could think he disappeared.

* * *

"Fury", Myra waved to the silver-haired woman who had sauntered into the dim library. Fury snapped her head to the warrior at the darkened corner of the place as she patted the blue sofa beside her. Myra's spot was perfectly discreet and out of the range of any listening ears. She sank her aching muscles into the softness of the single sofa, relaxing her wrists against the armrests. Myra sipped at her piping hot concoction that sent waves of steam off its heat.

"You look like you went a round with Hades himself", She commented with a side glance. Fury chuckled at her observation. It wasn't exactly untrue. She looked down to the dirt and grime that covered her clothes and skin. A shower was much longed for.

"I won't keep you any longer than need be", Myra added, noting Fury's exhausted demeanour. "The Wildmen were once Asgardian people who possessed unimaginable power about 900 years ago. In the height of their power, they tried to knock Odin off his throne and with the leadership of their most powerful pawn. It was the closest we ever came to being conquered.",

Fury nodded her head in understanding, noting the hesitance on the woman's freckled face. Myra loosed a sigh, sweeping back a bouncing ringlet of hair from her brown eyes.

"How did Odin win?", Fury prodded with an unwavering interest as her hands skimmed over the mahogany bookcase that lined the library in rows of colourful novels.

"...Loki defeated them. He had a strange affinity for the Wildmen, he bonded with them in a way no one could. The prince fought few battles but this was one he lead and conquered. Though powerful, the Wildmen were no match for a God. Loki bound their power to an object of no real value and hid it within the palace. Instead of killing the remaining people he banished them to the mountains, where they have stayed until now.",

Immediately a harrowing thought crossed her mind. The Asgardians that were taken were all staff, people that may have seen the object. Someone was trying to take back what was theirs.

"Myra, who does Odin refer to when he speaks of his 'Staff'?", Fury questioned with more interest than she had shown, standing briskly from her seat.

"The cleaners, kitchen help, Guards, warriors and now You", Myra answered without hesitance, painting a smile on Fury's lips.

"Excellent", She chided and flew from the library in her fast step.

* * *

The route from to her accommodation was either a long journey up a flight of stairs and through the hall or she could halve her travel by trapesing through the courtyard of the east wing and around the side of the palace. She chose the shorter route after the aching of her thigh muscles groaned at the thought of stairs.

It was dark in the courtyard, a few lights were nestled in the bushes to guide her path. She looked up to the star-filled sky with a sigh, it was breathtakingly clear and so bright she felt the lighting to be a mocking statement. Her boot shuffled the cobblestone in light patters of crunching rock that turned into a tapping as she mounted the polished stone floor of the open-aired corridor which lead to that door with the diamond windows. Shadows danced around her, slowing her fast pace. Her ears held out for any movement or speech.

_Behind you_

What?

_Behind you!_

Fury dropped just in time to see a limb fly over her head, she kicked out her leg into her attacker's knee making them groan. But they were not alone, she found that out by the closed fist that punted into her jaw. Her neck snapped violently to the right as aching consumed the latter side of her face. Huge hands gripped around her bare arms, holding her back. They lifted her to her feet and she glared into the darkness, waiting to see the other attacker under the moonlight.

They stepped into view, causing her brow to raise in surprise. She didn't recognise the short but bulky man who felt it necessary to assault a stranger. It made her mad. It burned the frustration in her chest. The man's dull black eyes glared at her as he sauntered closer, too close. His stubby fingers softly caressed her cheek, running down her neck and to her clavicle. It was vomit-inducing. It made her writhe under the concrete grip that held her. The greying man's eyes roamed over her where his hand had stopped.

_Anger is a terrible thing_

God. She imagined that stubby man squirming on the edge of her sword, pleading with her. She imagined being consumed in a burning flame that made the creature that held her flee in terror. She was fire. Flame. Burning eternally and without restraint. That calloused hand against her skin roamed to the top of her breast and she was Hellfire. A tingle ran through her fingers, she didn't have to touch the blade to feel it burst through the man's body and implode him into a pile of blood and sinew.

"Fury", Someone called her as those hulking hands loosened from her bicep and he tossed her to the cobblestone to run. No. He wouldn't get away. Her eyes shot up from the ground and she motioned her fingers, sending arrows in the form of a violet flame. They hit his back and suddenly he was dancing to rid himself of the magical fire. Then he was not.

She breathed out against the cobblestone that indented her shoulder and palms. Hurried footsteps dramatically slid to her side. Her orbs crashed onto Fandral who theatrically swept her into his arms on the ground. His warm hand tenderly wiped away the drop of blood that came from her sore jaw. He held her close and tightly against his body. Those dark blue eyes surveyed her expressionless face that questioned him. His golden tunic clung to his torso in an appealing tightness. She shifted in his arms, groaning at the ache of her limbs. Her arm strung over the mass of his shoulder, softly sweeping the blonde locks at his neck. Wondering where he had come from and why he was out so late. She had almost forgotten about the murders in the palace. Security was constant and even the warriors had been recruited to protect the golden building in the early hours of the morning to late at night. At that point, she couldn't tell if it were early morning or later in the night. Her sight focused on Fandral, his grey armour flickered with life under the path lights. He appeared to have encountered some sort of struggle during his shift from the dirt and sweat that coated his face. Yet it was still such a beautiful face. Her hand shot to her own face to swipe at the dirt that coated her own cheek. She was filthy.

"You look ravishing, beautiful Fury", The words struck her with their sincerity that came from behind those white teeth. His chiselled face held a contemplative pout. He was worried, Fearful and so indescribably beautiful under the moonlight. It was perhaps why she met his lips with her own in a heated kiss. He hesitated a moment but welcomed her into his mouth with a soft growl, dismissing any courteous behaviour he had displayed. His hands tightened around her back and waist, luring her closer. She wanted to feel the warmth of his body, the softness of his lips against hers. It was perhaps why she brought him to her bedroom.


	22. Penance

**Penance**

Penance: Punishment inflicted on oneself as an outward expression of repentance for wrongdoing

* * *

The cold season hit Asgard with its icy chill. Not that he could feel the soft breeze against his skin. He breathed out a stilted sigh at the sight that had roused his presence.

Sleeping so peacefully, Fury had summoned him. Perhaps in her dream. How calm and beautiful her ethereal face seemed. Her skin once lifeless glowed in the light, her lips possessed a darker hue of red and her cheekbones were as sharp as her blade. She didn't see it. She hadn't dared look into that shattered mirror. A shame.

His sights darted to the body beside her which illuminated by the early morning sun against their golden skin. Fandral. The thought made his face scrunch in disgust. Her first act as a Goddess was to sleep with the village idiot.

That tattooed arm rested on top of the quilt, exposing the nakedness of her form that hid beneath the covers. Her white skin seemed lighter in comparison to the dark tendrils of ink. Her waving locks cascaded into a tangled mess against her bare shoulder. He smiled.

Like she could sense his lurking those dark eyelashes fluttered open, instantaneously darting towards him.

"What the hell, Loki ?!", Her hands pulled the covers against her chest as she bolted upright. His eyes trailed over the blanket.

"Missing me I see", His smooth tone queued a confused expression to paint her face.

"You summoned me in your sleep",

Fury shifted in her place against the grey headboard, gripping her quilt closer.

"Must've been a nightmare", She spat in a lowered tone, her eyes resting on Fandral's sleeping form that rested at her side with his arm splayed over her torso. Repulsive.

"Perhaps you longed for that to be me. And while he is a God, perhaps he fails in comparison to the God of Mischief.", Loki spat with a venomous uprising, that sinister smirk placed firmly on his lips.

"Is that...are you jealous?", The silver-haired woman asked softly, a smile lingered.

"Jealous?... A monster would never be so lucky.",

Loki hissed and disappeared from her sight.

* * *

Thor didn't show at the training yard at midday. She didn't see him for a few days and then a week. In his place, Odin assigned Sif to train her. She was brutal and unforgiving in her training, it made her long for the God of Thunder's return.

All over she ached with bruises and cuts. She returned to her chamber with a stifled sigh. Her eyes trailed over the bed that she had welcomed Fandral into. The following morning had been uncomfortable but he seemed to understand she didn't seek anything more from him, at least she hoped he did.

A soft vibration alerted her sights to the mantle of the grey fireplace that looked to have once been a lighter colour but was layered in ash and soot. Upon it, her PDA chattered with life. The reflective screen turned a lively blue and white block letters displayed the time on Earth and below on Asgard. The device that was no bigger than her hand hadn't worked since she had returned with Loki's corpse. It was Alien technology but it was yet to be perfected to receive and make calls or even retrieve mission details. A bubble of writing popped up, a message from Earth, from her superiors. She rushed to wrap her fingers around the alloy casing, almost snapping the paper-thin device in her hurry. Just as her eyes settled on the message an error fizzled the screen into darkness and she was left staring at her reflection. Damn. She murmured

"Shit",

The alloy device made a small thump as she tossed it onto the paisley quilt. Her eyebrows furrowed at the changed purple quilt cover. She glanced around and the whole room had been cleaned, pieces of broken furniture picked up and pictures rehung. A tired sigh left her being.

She was in desperate need of a shower and some clothes that weren't stained by grass or scuffed by the bite of cobblestones. Sif had landed her on her ass too many times. Her body ached from the assault and her throat felt as dry as paper. A light tapping emitted from the tread of her heavy boots against the tile of the bathroom. Where the palace had been extravagant in its detail and tapestries this room was not. It held a dull grey floor tile and white walls with barely enough room to fit the shower, bath, basin and toilet comfortably. It seemed the decor of 'I'm rich and you're not' had only extended so far.

Her fingers curled around the edges of the sink, her first port of call after she slung her long-sleeved shirt over her head and into a crumpled pile by the door. She observed the cuts and scrapes on her shoulders from the mirror above the basin. Her zip-front sports bra felt uncomfortably tight against her raised and swollen skin like the stretchy material was the only thing holding her chest together. She sighed. A line of raised and reddened skin trailed from her hip to her sternum, some dried blood crusted it. Sif's blade. It hitched the breath in her throat.

Training with Sif had her stripped of armour and left her fighting with just her bare hands. But the woman who had defeated a Warrior Goddess seemed to have faded into the dust. Her body now felt foreign and clumsy to navigate. Her bones ached. She was an easy target and Sif took that to her advantage. Bitch.

Her eyes drifted from the mirror, not daring to meet those crimson orbs. Weak, she was being weak and an utter child.

Slowly her sight raised and only for a moment did she catch her celestial appearance. Another being caught her vision. A shadow lurked behind her, baring eyes of black and gold. Valerian. Fear consumed her as her flame had once done to him, crawling slowly but eating away at her flesh with each ascension. Shit. She froze and he didn't. His gloved hand flexed around her neck, she grimaced against the smooth leather that thrust her skull into the solidness of the mirror. She raised her hand to stop it but she was too slow. Too sore.

Splitting agony germinated in her temple and the ability to think became obsolete. She stumbled as he let her go and she found her back pressed against the coolness of the wall tile without even knowing she had fallen. Valerian. Her eyes blinked at the figure, fighting through the blood that poured down her eyebrow and forehead. Her heart beat viciously in her chest at the thought. He would take one look at her red eyes and he would know what she had done. He would want to know how. He would force her to do it again and again. She shrunk at the memory of his incessant need for control. The number of times she had practised her magic on his enemies until it was perfect. How he punished her with chains when it was not. The time it took to ward him from entering her thoughts. Not again. Never again.

Those walls in her mind she had shattered now were rebuilt with bricks and barbed wire. It was strong and impenetrable. He wasn't getting in. She wouldn't let him.

Loki. She thought of the only person that could aid her. Someone that couldn't be hurt or manipulated.

_Yes?_

_Valerian._

_Say no more. It's my pleasure, Dear Fury_

"I'll see you soon, my love", Valerian smiled a feline-like smile and disappeared in a burst of green light. That trickster seemed all too willing to help her.

She breathed out heavily, taking down that wall she had built in her thoughts. It was exhausting to maintain. To fight against him. She had forgotten just how so.

"I see you are not making friends", Loki smirked with glee in his corporeal form she had summoned to aid her. Fury laid her head back against the tiled wall with a soft groan. blood dripped off into her hair and down her bare shoulder. She was a mess.

"Fuck", A groan echoed off the tile that was slippery with her blood.

The damn light on the ceiling was too bright and blurred her already fading sight. The tall figure entered her vision, she could tell who it was by the blackness of his hair.

"Disgusting", He observed with a disgruntled sigh, kneeling in front of her bloodied form.

"Thanks", She smirked weakly in her disorientation. It wasn't a good day to have gotten out of bed. Sleep. Sleep would be nice. A long sleep. Say a week or two.

"A goddess who cannot heal herself is truly pathetic", She hinted a distance in his voice that wasn't laced with his usual venom.

"I regret asking you for help", Fury commented with an uncertainty of whether she had said the words or she had imagined saying them. He muttered something under his breath as he pulled at the glass lodged in her palm, it came free with a tinge of pain. The God was more careful with the shard attached to her forehead, calculating in his movements to free it. It came free after a while but the price for its freedom brought an unstoppable gush of crimson into her eyes. She felt weak like she was fading into death from the sensation. She commended his poor effort.

"Good job",

"Shit", Loki cursed, quick to summon a tendril of green to heal her wounds. She felt them sew shut, felt the blood vacuum away from her skin like a magical cleanup. Though her wounds were healed her mind ached with no magical fix. Valerian, the master of alluding magical aid. His spells were vicious and cruel.

"Argh", A yelp escaped her lips from the blazing agony that split through her mind. Loki's eyes widened with surprise, darting around her form with haste. He couldn't heal her, not properly. No healer would help.

"It would be so easy to leave you to die...had you not stolen my magic I just might have", Loki hissed and gathered her body into his arms. For a moment she was flying, floating above the gravitational pull that kept her grounded. Pressed against the coolness of the black leather that seemed to bind the God together. His jaw was clamped shut with what looked like irritation. Lightheadedness consumed her.

"If you have somewhere else to be", Fury's mind became void of thought and reason, she forgot what it was to speak. "Then...", Her head lulled to the side, entranced by the gold swirls that clung to his shoulder against the black leather. It blinded her under the fluorescent lighting.

"...Shiny", Her thought escaped in a delirious statement that pummelled down upon her faster than his reckless abandon of care as he all but threw her onto the purple quilt.

"Heal yourself", He spoke without a second glance, tossing her clean vest at her to cover up her torso and then he disappeared. Such a caring creature.

_Love you too,_

She taunted with sarcasm, struggling to zip the tight vest onto her swollen body. The crimson blood on her palm made the black metal flimsy and hard to grasp. She held her breath as the kevlar strangled her body into submission. She groaned with irritation. Why throw her bloodied body onto the freshly made bed? She watched the red liquid drip from her hand in a slower stream and drop onto the violet material but it didn't stain. It disappeared into the fabric that remained its vibrant purple colour. A magical spill kit. Cool.

A faint knock bounded through her room, sounding louder with her delirium. Was it in her head?

"Come in", She voiced softly, comforted to see the handle turn and a figure walk in.

"Thor?", Her eyebrow raised at the hulking figure that was dressed in his long-sleeved armour. He must have just returned. Those blue eyes met her reddened skin and his pace quickened.

"The others are treating you well then?",

"Not one of your people could have snuck behind me, let alone leave unscathed...It was Valerian", Fury spat with grit in her voice, he had developed a habit for disappearing when she was in dire trouble.

"Valerian?", Thor hushed his tone, darting his eyes around the room.

"I cast him back to his realm", She lied calmly. He raised an eyebrow and asked

"You can do that?"

"I can do anything", Fury extinguished his curiosity, sighing at the weight that dropped beside her, almost on her. Close, always too close. She groaned almost as loudly as her beds detest. His hands gently traced the damage on her palm and skull. Wow. She wondered if he had moved that fast or had she just been so deluded that her brain failed to notice. His eyes were so worried and he touched her gingerly as if she would break. He spoke softly

"You'll need a healer",

"I'm cursed to bleed, they can't help that", She coughed lightly in favour of her insufferable migraine. Blood to blood she clamped her palm to the source of agony on her brow. Away. Go away. She pleaded to the pain but it didn't obey.

Fury felt herself fading, fading and gone. Unconsciousness gripped her for a moment and when her eyes fluttered open Thor was holding her with his blonde hair dishevelled from the swiftness he must have utilised to revive her. The silver scales on his arm pressed just under her breast and those ocean blue eyes hovered dangerously close. Warm. He was so warm. She hated the warm. The hot. The fire. She wanted to form ice in her palm and freeze whoever should test her. Then shatter them into shards. Cold was nice. The cold was different. Ice wasn't anything Valerian had tainted with dark magic.

_Heal yourself_

Her eyes closed: She was fire and she was ice. Hot and cold. Frost and flame. She was unbreakable, unable to bleed. From hellfire, she was forged and through a Frost Giant, she was reborn immortal. She was Fury and Vengeance...She was healed.

She felt Thor squirm against her while her crimson orbs burst open. Iridescent tendrils of magic ghosted through the wind, fading into nothing under the strip of sun that wavered between the drapes in a triangular burst. She felt so small against the hulking chest held firmly against her back. His worrisome expression triggered the tightness against her ribs. Those scales kept her grounded like a kite floating in the wind, his assurance was the string that kept her from floating into danger. It felt strange.

What could she make of that stare that was so piercing? Of his care? The closeness he presented? Staring. She was staring. She felt lightheaded but euphoric from the magic that rose from within her.

Fury cleared her throat and tore her sight to the soft skin on her palm, unscathed and stained in a diluted red stain. She smiled a wickedly satisfied grin. What a trick.

_You're welcome_

_"_Fury...Valerian was banished from Asgardian land. Why would he return to do this?", Thor examined her red-stained palm, sweeping away the dried substance with no avail. Valerian. The name sent alerts into her mind. It told her she had been on Asgard too long. It told her to run. She shrugged out of Thor's caring grasp.

"He's making sure I pay my penance...That brilliant pyrokinesis power I had...let's just say it wasn't always mine",

_Evil little thief_

Thor was confused, she could tell by the vacancy in his eyes and the slight tilt of his head. She explained.

"I have always housed the ability to set things alight. That was always mine. I could light a small flame, kindle a fire. Nothing more. Valerian gave me purpose.", Fury's fingers traced the brand slapped against her skin. "Through a blood contract, he bound me to the heart of Vanaheim, a dying 'star'. Only it wasn't a star, it was a catalyst of magic, a blue flame that had burned eternally. His people couldn't bear it. They combusted from the sheer heat. I, however, was fireproof. He made me strong in exchange for my hand and when I died. The star."

Those blue eyes widened and he replied softly.

" To grant you the star of Vanaheim Valerian would have to be-"

" An overlord and he was", Fury finished his thought.

"...And that would make you a woman of high stature"

A chuckle escaped her.

"No. I was his wife. Women are not worthy of crowns, not in the company of demons. Not in the eyes of a husband who seeks subjugation. It didn't matter the rank or power, he wanted everyone to kneel. It was why he stole magic through contracts...now he just kills for it."

"I stumbled into that dark castle in the forestry on Vanaheim. They were frightening people. But there was a woman. A sorceress ruled that land."

"Any remnants of that time were hidden in the vaults. Crowns, gowns and jewellery. It no longer existed when I lived there",

"...Fury that wasn't a time ago...Vanaheim was where I disappeared to".

"...What?", She rasped with gritted teeth. Stirring thoughts crossed her mind. What business would he have with Valerian?

Thor rose from the bed, crossing his arms over his chest with a conflicted expression.

"Odin has reconsidered his banishment from Asgardian land, without Loki, there is no enforcing it.", He breathed out and she answered.

"There is no allegiance with Valerian! He would have already found a way to sneak into Asgard without Odin's permission.", Fury halted her thought, matching eyes with Thor. "Why was he banished?",

"He tried to start a war with Loki, he lost",

Valerian, the overlord, her husband. Surely he knew it was impossible to attain the magic of the most powerful sorcerer know to exist...But it wasn't unattainable. She had them. If he knew it he would wage war for them, he would kill for them. He would kill her. He'd kill them all to get her.

"How long until he is allowed back into Asgard?", Fury asked with that migraine assuming it's prior position. Thor replied.

"Two weeks from Friday",

The silver-haired woman examined the man like he had grown another head. Was he serious?

"So, the day we expect another Asgardian to be kidnapped, Valerian can walk freely on Asgard?",

_It's frustrating, isn't it? How dim-witted one man can be._

_While you're eavesdropping, you were eager to help me. What are you scheming? _

_Dear Fury, Did I forget to mention that Valerian has been my greatest nemesis for quite some time? He will undoubtedly try to take my power from you. I suggest running. I think you'll like Muspelheim, I hear they have fire dragons._

_I hate you_

_However, will I live?_

"Then we train for war, every day. No excuses.", A growl emitted in place of her voice and Thor looked at her with a worrisome expression. A shadow had cursed her in that bathroom, she could only imagine what power he had in person.

"First you must face the council of Gods, they've gathered to collectively decide if you're worthy of this immortality Loki gave you. Be in the hall in an hour", He seemed tired of their conversation, more distant than he had been. A council of Gods? She was going to undoubtedly make an idiot of herself. Perhaps they'd burn the vampire. Or send her to some ungodly place away from Valerian. They'd be safe then.

Valerian. Eyes of black with a gold ring where his pupil should be. He found her. His tanned skin brushed against her, she tried to move but she couldn't. Tried to scream but he had silenced her under his magic. Fear cultivated into terror. She couldn't breathe. She watched him destroy Asgard to punish her. To teach her a lesson. Terrified cries filled her ears but she could only watch. Watch and weep for the souls that were buried beneath the pile of corpses that paved the city like cobblestones on a pathway. Flicking filled her ears. Like pages being turned and she was pulled from the nightmare.

Awareness consumed her form. She felt the slippery satin sheet underneath her and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"That was an awful dream",

The voice almost scared her half to death. Her orbs opened. Emerald eyes stared back at her with a humorous light. His long body was only a finger-length away. She saw he had propped himself up with pillows to soften the headboard against his spine. A simple tunic and dark pants dressed him with no real sense of royalty. His long overcoat was black with soft shades of green hemming. It was uncanny how the unimpressive article polished the outfit with regal elegance. He was reading a blue-covered book with his dark hair in slight dishevelment. He spoke after a moment of her murderous glare.

"I thought you ought to know that Odin is expecting you at that meeting in 10 minutes",

She adjusted her position to prop herself up against the headboard. Her eyebrow raised and she stared at the man.

It was strange that he had positioned himself so close to her. The only closeness he ever displayed was to taunt or threaten. She had the feeling he was to look at but never touch. This occurrence held no sense of threat or warning. She wondered what he was up to.

"Loki?", Her voice was low and quickly caught his attention before he flicked to another page. His dark eyebrow raised at her voice with his white skin almost glowing in its ethereal beauty. She wanted to see just one ugly god, maybe even one slightly obese. One that had even a hair out of place. His thin lips murmured.

"Yes"

"What the hell are you doing in my bed?!", Fury scolded him, ripping the book that had belonged to her from his grasp. He smiled with those blindly white teeth.

"You seem content with summoning me in your sleep. It's become quite annoying. I thought I might as well just stay", Loki chided, crossing his ankles over one another.

"At this point, I'm almost certain you're lying", Fury returned his smirk that faded at her words. She jumped out of bed and made a quick stride toward the bathroom.

"You've got me. A thousand years I lived and I just can't get past the half-breed vampire out of a lifetime of countless goddesses.", Loki dramatically materialised in her path, halting her quick movement. His ghostly form taunted her. "One would think that the whole executioner trickery would deter me or stealing my powers perhaps but no that only made me want you more. I can't think or dream without seeing your face. It haunts me.",

It took all she had not to laugh but she couldn't let him win. She thought about the smell of parchment and leather and suddenly he was corporeal in front of her

"Then do something about it", She crossed her arms, daring him to even touch her without grimacing. He blinked.

"I beg your pardon?", Loki stumbled for words. This was brilliant. She taunted closely.

"I said", Fury hovered closer to his face, enough so that she could feel his breath on her cheek. It was intimate and confronting. Everything he hated. "Then do something about it",

He was silent as his eyes bore into her unyielding orbs. That smile painted his lips like it always had, an even more stubborn smile.

"You would never be so fortunate", The words disappeared faster than he did.

_Oh, no. Was it something I said?_


	23. Dissonance

**_Dissonance_**

To disagree

* * *

The Gods of Asgard who belonged to the small planetary body all clamoured in the hall, arguing loudly amongst themselves. Fury's presence was like a silencing spell to the extravagantly dressed gathering. She saw herself as a subject to be picked apart by the vultures of Odin's council. The tread of her boots echoed against the polished floor as she neared. Each echo drummed a dreading strain within her chest.

Odin was the first to speak from his throne. His descent from the raised platform was torturous.

"Furya",

Fury bowed her head in acknowledgement while he motioned her by his side. Exactly where she didn't want to be. Thor followed her footsteps, coming seemingly from nowhere. Gold. There was so much gold from the pillars to the tapered ceilings and crafted throne.

Her bones rattled with anxiety. It made her wonder if she'd be leaving on her own accord.

"These are but a few of the gods of Asgard. We have Enchantress", A blonde woman bowed her head, her costume the same emerald of Loki's eyes. "Lady Sif, Balder the brave, Hermod god of speed, Heimdall, Thunderstrike, Karnilla the Norn Queen, Kurse, Fandral, Volstagg, Thor, Hogun and Ulik the rock troll."

Fury's red eyes settled on the hulking rock creature that matched her crimson orbs. He growled. Creepy.

The Enchantress spoke in a silky voice, her skin-tight suit shifting under her movements. She spoke with an irritable tone.

"So you stole Loki's magic",

"Correct", Fury mirrored her tone. Her feet shuffled to Odin with Thor at her shoulder.

"And now you think yourself a Goddess?", The light green crown shifted against her brow.

Karnilla, who had stayed silent but hadn't averted her prying glare, stepped forward, halting Enchantress. Her silver headrest encompassed the wildness of her black hair like a grapevine, swirling and twisting. When she moved her chest looked like it was going to burst from the revealing crimson dress. Its plunging neckline that dipped to her navel would be illegal to wear in public on Midgard. The thin taut chains held in what they could of her breasts but even steel chains had their limit. She was surprised nothing had come out thus far.

"I know every soul within our planetary system. You thought you could evade me...While I can't read your mind I do remember you. Wife of Valerian The Defiler.", Those white eyes looked into her soul and she was void of being. A collective silence filled the hall.

"Ex-wife", Fury growled, feeling like she would fly away if she breathed.

"What a brilliant plan to infiltrate our gathering. We didn't even suspect you would be able to steal from Loki. What will you do now? Siphon Valerian our magic, our immortality perhaps?", The Norn Queen hisses, the fishnet of her sheer sleeve twisted upon her agitated muscles. It sparked an argument amongst them.

A breath hitched in her throat as she reached for the zip on her jacket. The loud zip didn't distract the Gods from arguing nor did the drop of her jacket on the shiny floor. Fandral's eyes narrowed to her. He was the only one to see her tattoos in their entirety, to see her skin bare. It made her shiver. Her tight tank clung to her form that was sweating up a storm.

This was ridiculous.

"Scan it", She held up her prison brand for anyone that would listen. The company glared at her with distaste. Thor was silent by her shoulder.

"Before you crucify me I dare you to scan the damn barcode and tell me if I am still in allegiance with Valerian!", Fury commanded in a growling annoyance that expertly shielded her shaky breaths. Though her heart felt like lead in her chest she wouldn't allow the council to mindlessly convict her. She would stand her ground even if it crumbled beneath her. Even if she failed.

Hermod appeared next to her. God of speed he was. His appearance could only be described as a brown-haired Thor, they looked eerily similar barring Hermod's orange eyes. He touched the black ink on her forearm without any formalities.

"The castle of Vaniria", His voice was a higher pitch than she had expected. Those amber eyes stared sideways with curiosity and question. "She burned it down with Valerian and his court inside",

"It could be a lie. I say we summon Valerian", Thunderstrike's voice boomed in a low rumble. He didn't believe her and If she thought Hermod to be similar to Thor's appearance then Thunderstrike was his doppelganger.

Breathing seemed to become obsolete in her mind that bounded off her cranium walls. No. Valerian wasn't the answer. He would destroy them. She felt like she was floating away. She was out of her body witnessing the disaster from a birds-eye view.

"Valerian would do more harm than good", Sif's commanding voice pierced the air and Fury snapped back into her conscious mind.

"She's right. He is not worth the destruction that would befall us", Fandral spoke with soft eyes.

"If she faces Valerian then we will not prosecute her for stealing a God's grace", Karnilla, the Norn Queen of Bitches concluded, curling her fingers over one another like she wielded an invisible staff.

No. No. She had to leave. To run far away. Valerian would hunt them. He would kill them for being in association with her. Thor, Fandral, Sif even Myra. All dead. Fury growled with bared teeth.

"That's brave of you, Karnilla. Being that you are like a blinding damn beacon of magic, I'd be surprised if he noticed me here at all after he pried your magic from your veins",

Laughter echoed in her mind, a low chuckle that reminded her of Loki's power. Karnilla might just distract Valerian from noticing the aura of iridescent magic that pulsed around the hall in tendrils of white. Karnilla was second only to Loki. It would be easy to pass off.

"Enough!... Summon him", Karnilla spat back to Odin who repositioned his hands on his golden staff. Ruthless bitch.

"No. You won't put our people in harm's way for the sake of this petty revenge", Thor's voice boomed at Karnilla but she didn't acknowledge him. How dare she ignore him.

"So be it", Odin replied without having heard a word his son had said.

"How about you listen to your council?", Fury shot at Karnilla in a voice of unwavering rage that had never escaped her lips before. It was deafeningly loud and terrifyingly convincing. A god-like perk.

"It is done, Furya!", Odin overpowered her voice that seemed small in comparison.

Oh God, she felt like she was going to die. The last time she took a breath seemed a lifetime ago. She was going to float away into the sky. Away from Valerian. From these people.

Then Thor softly placed a hand on the small of her back and she felt grounded. He whispered in her ear while Valerian was a safe distance away.

"Don't let them see",

She was on the verge of tears. Not sadness. Anger. She wanted to kill Valerian all over again. She wanted to watch him writhe in pain against her wrath. To make sure he was dead underneath her.

She was breathing hard to compensate for the breaths she held. She hadn't realised under the anxiousness that plagued her.

Oh shit. Her jacket. Her tattoo of Loki's contract. She hurried to redress herself, even though she felt like she was forgetting something.

Footsteps dulled on the red runner of carpet and Fury met those black eyes with a glowing gold ring circling them. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

_Loki, my eyes_

_My, aren't we stooping extraordinarily low for compliments?_

_No, you don't understand. If Valerian sees my eyes he'll steal your power within a second._

_Valerian is powerless against you at best. He's a demon. _

_Fine. Don't let a demon steal your damn power_

A disgruntled sigh echoed in her empty mind.

_Repeat after me: Loki is unequivocally brilliant. Loki is my saviour._

_Loki! _

_Fine: My eyes are blue with a ring of white electricity running around the circumference. My eyes are the colour of cobalt with the intensity of a ferocious flame. My eyes are the colour of the Tesseract but much more dangerous. _

_My eyes are blue. My eyes are blue._

"Furya", She met the tanned skinned demon who settled in front of her like she were the only one in the hall. Those almond-shaped eyes glared into her soul. She didn't recall the height of him exceeding her so successfully, but it did. It shadowed her in his black chained leather that jingled when he walked.

A smirk shadowed her lips at the sight of his singed skin that ran a small line from the midnight black hair at his temple to a mangled scar at his collar. He purred.

"How I've missed those blue eyes."

The pace she slithered from his rough hand on her cheek was unchallenged. She growled.

"How I've missed seeing you on fire",

His expression soured, forcing his scarred eyebrow to dip.

"You signed a death warrant Furya and I will come to see it through", The voice that had once been so calm wavered with fury. His spiked hair stayed still in his movement of observing their current company. His expression became that of a child in a candy store and her chest began to ache. No. He couldn't. Had she not pissed him off he wouldn't have.

"Unless...",

"No!", Fury knew that smirk, she had been the victim of its bite for decades. His black orbs connected with Karnilla and it was like fire lighting in his eyes. She was a source of magic. A catalyst of power, bright and burning. A catalyst he would defile with dark magic.

Fury threw herself at him. Her sword jumped into her palm. The leather hilt in her hand comforted her rage as the iridescent flame licked the steel blade. She imagined it splattered with Valerian's blood.

Those jagged teeth flashed her a wicked smile as the jingle of his chained jacket chimed. An orange veil crawled around her skin and she felt her form unwillingly thrust backwards by it, launched into the air from its energy. A yelp escaped her.

"Argh", Air heaved from her lungs, deflating as her body burst through a stone pillar, shattering and crumbling the golden structure. Her sword clattered to the ground. She needed to grab something, anything to save her from the vast fall. There was nothing but white dust and disrupted chunks of stone that joined her flight. Oh, fuck. The world rolled around her. It was a long drop into the garden below. Next stop: The medical ward.

Suddenly she stopped falling.

"What the?"

Green mist swirled around her in tendrils of magic. They lifted her gently back to the edge of the golden hall, where she had shot through the guard rail and pillar. The magic subsided in waves as it placed her feet back on the polished floor.

_You're welcome_

* * *

The Gods of Asgard wailed in despair. She saw it on her first glance. Karnilla laid out on the floor. Her body was still. Lifeless.

A sigh loosed from her lips. His cheap tricks had fooled a room full of Gods that now mourned their friend. She was going to kill him. She had to. Raged filled her. It made her whole. She didn't want to feel that way again. To feel so hopeless.

"Fury", Thor called her with Sif and Fandral by his side. They were dressed for battle.

Fury wouldn't let Valerian kill them if they found him. She couldn't. The thought made tears fill her vision through the chalky white dust that coated her.

She wondered where Valerian would go but she knew exactly where. To Loki.

Fury saw the chamber in her mind. She smelt the parchment and leather. She felt the softness of the black rug in her fingers and the fire licking at her skin. She was there. In Loki's den.

_If ever there was A time when I needed you. It's now, Loki_

_Oh, such excitement_

_Just...whatever you do stay hidden._

_Ah, is that care I sense?_

"Get out!", Fury's eyes rested upon the shadow that lurked in Loki's deep green velvet chair. She wanted to stab him where he stood, to feel his bleeding flesh from the end of her sword.

"You know", Valerian violently shut the book in his palm and rose from the seat. "You used to be more obedient",

"And you used to be more dead", She hissed and slinked away from his incessant need to touch her. Valerian gritted his teeth and spoke.

"Where is my power, Furya?",

"Oh, the heart of Vanaheim is gone. Destroyed", She chided with fear making her fingers tremble. Red and orange eyes glowered at her. His fist curled at his side.

"Then I don't have use for you",

A wave of orange embers encompassed her being like little locusts chewing at her flesh. They swarmed her in armies, consuming her body.

_Please, allow me. Incendia_

Through her mind Loki exploded the insects into little blue flaming corpses. Charred and fire eaten they writhed on the floor.

"Or do I?", Those jagged teeth flashed her a sinister grin and his scarred but still undeniably handsome face lit up with intrigue. She frowned, noting the marks and sigils upon his once beautiful tanned skin, some were tattooed others were carved with what looked like a knife. She had told him his need for power would consume him and it had. He was held together by dark magic. More beast than man. She opened her mind to him.

**I loved you more than I could ever explain and look at what you've done. You've sacrificed yourself for power. You hated being a demon and now look at you. You've defiled yourself. **

**Love? You don't know the meaning. I gave you home, A husband and unimaginable power. Was it not enough?**

**When it was good it was great. But you fell into old habits. You defiled my skin with dark magic. Dark magic, Rian. **

**Rian? Is this what we're doing, Furya? Pretending to be aggrieved?**

**I was kinda hoping one of these God might have burst in and stabbed you by now so death could finally do us part.**

Without warning the black door burst open. Thor, Fandral and Sif poured in.

"I'll be back for you Fury but before I leave...", Valerian dissipated into the wind in thousands of black particles. She froze at her company's gaze that drifted past her.

"Never steal from me", His low growl whispered in her ear.

_Furya!_

She felt the blade pierce through her flesh, slicing through organ and bone. He knew she could heal but not from this. Not from his cursed blade.

"No!", Thor and Fandral rushed her, queuing Valerian's disappearing act.

Burning fire coursed through her waist but she didn't scream. It awaited her with open arms. An echoing bounced around her skull. Spells and enchantments rhythmically called in Loki's low albeit alluring accent that rattled with swiftness.

_Is that care I sense_

_I...I can't heal it..._

_No one can heal it. Not even you, Loki._

"Fury", Fandral was first to reach her but Thor was the one to sweep her into his arms.

"I'm not having the best day", She softly murmured against the God's chest.

"Thor where are you going?", Sif quickly met the pace he set.

"The Gods will answer for what they've done",

Fury felt the wind against her face, they were flying. Fast and free. It was how she wanted to die. Free

* * *

The Palace rumbled with a vicious rage queuing Thor's violent landing that shattered the stone beneath him. Fury was in his arms, still and paperwhite. The remaining Gods gave him their attention. Hermod, Thunderstrike, Enchantress and Odin eyed the woman who Thor held with such care and defending with such honour.

"Heal her. I don't care how. Just do it!", The blonde-haired god's voice shook the remaining pillars in its might.

"Thor", Odin interjected.

"She doesn't deserve to die for you!", Thor boomed to the gathering of Gods. They didn't move. They didn't try to save her. He would ensure they listened. Those ignorant fools. His blue eyes trailed down to the lifeless body in his arms. She was better than them and she was worth more than to die for them. He spoke.

"She warned you and you didn't listen! Now you'll let her pay the price? You are not Gods you are cowards!", His voice was hoarse from the desperation that plagued it, from the anger he felt. Sif and Fandral entered the hall with hurried steps.

Thunder rumbled in the sky with a vicious growl as the Gods defiantly refused to acknowledge their ignorance. His heart felt like it was made of solid gold in the swiftness it dropped in his chest. No one offered him aid.

"You are the wisest of all God's Lord Odin. Can you think of nothing?", Fandral spoke in a raspy, wavering tone as his light eyes rested upon Fury. Odin spoke

"Thunderstrike", The king bowed his head in permission to the blonde-haired man.

Thunderstrike sauntered forward to Fury's body in Thor's arms. He was guilty. He should have been. In his hand, he held water from the eternal spring. It was healing water to the Gods. A non-magical fix. Enchantress swiftly grasped the metallic vial in his hand, holding the swirling liquid to her chest.

"What makes her worthy?!", She spat.

Rage settled in Thor's being. He saw no place for the scarcely dressed woman, no reason for her to exist except to irritate him. He held on Fury, readjusting her weight in his arms and glared through the Enchantress. Electricity sparked in his eyes, it burnt in his chest. Following the violent rumble of thunder that vibrated the floor.

"Because you're miserably in love with the Vampire?", She laughed. She dared to mock him?

"Enchantress", Odin's booming voice rattled with authority.

*Whack*

Sif smacked the vial from Enchantress' hand and it shattered onto the stone.

"I'm sorry", Thunderstrike bowed his head to Thor in apology and ushered a livid Enchantress from the hall.

He held his breath as Rose coloured quartz grew from the shiny floor in clusters of crystal. It formed a bath shape, just big enough to fit Fury. He lowered her into it slowly, flicking the silver strands of her hair from her eyes. The scooped out crystal cradled her bloodied body that matched the crimson of his arms.

"Thor", Sif called but he didn't stray from the side of the bath. It did nothing. Nothing.

"Come on, Fury", He whispered with unblinking eyes, on the verge of breaking. He closed his eyes.

Soft trickling met his ears and he snapped his sight to the water the filled the bowl-shaped crystal in swirls of iridescent liquid. It submerged Fury in seconds.

He waited.

And waited.

Until minutes had passed and all hope fell.

"This is your Fault!", All care that Thor had possessed left his voice as he confronted the King. Odin opened his mouth to speak but stopped.

Suddenly the crystal bath started to bubble and vibrate with life. It hissed and spluttered water all over the floor but he didn't move. Not even when the bath began to expand and shudder.

Fury burst through the water with a spluttering cough, centimetres away from headbutting him. Those blue eyes widened. She coughed.

"Loki?",

Thor covered the drop in his chest with a smile that expressed the relief he felt.

"Why am I in someone's bathtub?", She groaned.

He reached into the tub and lifted her from the crystal. The bath disappeared beneath them in a burst of water that knocked them onto the floor. He took the brunt of the fall willingly.

"Oh, Shit", She groaned upon colliding with his chest. He bolted upright to clear the water from his lungs. They were soaking wet. But Fury. She was alive. He held her close to his chest, breathing out for a moment just to enjoy it. She sucked in the air around her and tightened her embrace. He was breathing hard.

"I think I need a day off", Her voice was muffled against his chest. He chuckled.

"Will tomorrow be sufficient?", Odin interrupted and Fury's blue eyes observed the people in the hall.

"Yes", She answered all too quickly, crashing back into Thor's embrace.


	24. Fatal Attraction

**_Fatal Attraction_**

An attraction so powerful it defies logic and reason but ultimately it ends in flame.

* * *

Ice carried through the wind in wisps of cold that frosted the windows shut in the palace. Fury tossed in her bed, clinging the quilt closer to her curled body. Sleep didn't come easy during the night. A groan escaped her lips. It seemed futile to even try so close to sunrise. Her blue eyes flickered open, darting to the shadow against the dim light.

"Oh, for fuck sake, Loki!", The God once again made her startle with his sudden closeness in the dark. He rested at the foot of her bed... What the hell? It wasn't her bed. She looked around. It was his room. His white skin glowed under the dim light that illuminated his smile.

"I think It would be wise to replace the sigil on your arm", He spoke without raising his glance to her. The protection tattoo? What did it matter to him?

"Why is that?", Fury questioned with accusation, her voice was hoarse. He replied swiftly, flicking through the pages of a tatty red-covered book.

"Seeing as Valerian knows where you reside. Where my magic resides",

Is that why she was in his chamber? Because he didn't want Valerian to find her?

"Why do you care?", Her eyebrows furrowed and the guttural drawl of her voice rose in a higher pitch.

"...I spent centuries learning to master that magic. I don't wish to see them in the hands of...Valerian.", Loki breathed out and scrunched his face at an accusation she had made.

"Oh, spare me the sentimental bullshit! You could hand out magic for free and it would make a dint.", Her feet landed hard against the square of carpet beneath the black-framed bed. They carried her towards him with a vehement swiftness. "I know what I am to you...A goddamn toy.", Fury gritted her teeth, lowering the veil to the magical world. Iridescent streams of white, purple, blue, green and red crawled behind her in a pulsating catalyst of light. "Valerian thought the same and I burnt him alive",

"I wouldn't require fifty years of marriage to forge you into something unbelievably wicked", Loki taunted above her in that tall and slender form. To hit him would've been too kind. She smiled without any real retort or response that could justify her agitation. Her mind closed the oculus into the world of magic.

"And I wouldn't marry you"

"That protection tattoo", He ignored her, changing his glance toward the book he had discarded upon the end of the bed.

"I have a better idea, King Odin. Don't let him in!", She growled. He must have thought she was an absolute idiot. Why wouldn't Loki be responsible for Valerian returning to Asgard?.

"You...", Loki cleared his throat with a smile, "I'm impressed", He commended. He had been living as Odin. Taking his disguise. She hissed

"You know I really wish that I had stayed dead and your goddamn power was taken from you for all eternity.",

"Oh, no you don't truly mean that", Loki chided, dramatically gripping at his chest.

"I hate you", She breathed out. "And I hate that I was your friend",

"A terrible mistake, really"

"But you know what I love?", Fury smiled a sinister grin, catching Loki's attention.

"What's that?", His eyes rolled with boredom, gliding to her.

"How easily you gave up that information.",

"What?", Loki glared at her with fire. His emerald eyes burned with rage.

"I thought of the most asinine thing one could do and there you were. Right on the front line. At least now I know why the realm is falling into ruin. It's because you're a miserable king", She spoke with a cheerful grin.

"I am the rightful king!", He spat. His ghostly transparency shuddered against her walking through him. She spoke with abhorrent anger.

"Well. No. Thor is the rightful heir.",

She sauntered to the bookshelf, her hand skimmed the spines of the many books that filled it. Fury stopped at a particularly tatty book and picked it up.

"Say, which was your favourite book again?", Her voice was unsettlingly calm.

"What..why?", He asked quickly and she watched his form become solid at a single thought. Perfect.

"No reason", She smiled, kindling the fireplace to life with the curl of her hand.

"Fury", Loki warned with a sharp breath, gasping as she launched the book into the flame. While he fixated on the book she kept her astral form in place and sent herself behind him. Her dagger jumped into her palm and she drove it deep into his back.

"It doesn't feel good does it, Loki?", Fury growled into his ear as he crumbled at her feet and she held his arm behind him like she did her prisoners. His blood spilt onto her hand. "If you ever try to fuck with me again, I will destroy you, even if it means destroying myself you maleficent little cockroach", She spoke close to his ear, gripping tighter against the blade that immobilised him. He groaned with pain through the evil smile that painted his lips.

"Noted", His soft voice chided with a wince. She let go and reefed the dagger from his back. Her iridescent magic followed his rising form, sewing the wound shut.

"I do apologise for your death", His words meant nothing. A chuckle escaped her. "Now I can sleep at night"

His Emerald eyes examined her face with an angry pout.

"Your eyes are blue", He breathed out. Fury snapped her gaze behind her but there was no decoy behind her. No trick.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Not so predictable?", Loki asked with that sinister grin that bared his perfect teeth.

"Perhaps not", She breathed out, staring for a moment. He enquired.

"What?",

"Valerian is scared of you", A smile grew on her crimson lips. "That makes you my new best friend",

"How unfortunate",

"Very"

* * *

Sunlight bathed Fury in much-needed warmth against the concrete bench in the garden. She watched with eager eyes as the orange mass rose higher into the blue sky, heating her skin. In her hand, she held a steaming pastry of sorts that came apart in crusty chunks of caramel goodness. The kitchen staff had been strangely kind to her, even gifting her with a cup that would keep her coffee-like drink warm in the morning frost. A book was perched in her other hand, one from Loki's collection. A strange book of spells and enchantments.

She breathed out a sigh and blinked away the soreness from her eyes, spotting a furry creature amongst the rose bush. It startled and leapt beyond the shrubbery in a fluid motion.

"Hello", Her voice echoed in the vast emptiness of the garden. The creature's glowing eyes watched her. It was small and resembled a cat with pointed ears and glowing paws.

"It won't kill you", Loki's silky voice spoke from beside her. She didn't startle this time and even became so civil as to offer him some of her pastry, he took it.

"It's cute", Fury observed the creature's little nostrils that flared at the scent of her food. "They are also quite vicious. Asgardian's don't warm kindly to Fels",

The Fel's ears perked at Loki's voice and its glowing paws stepped closer to the God of Mischief, who offered the creature some of the pastry. It seemed to purr with joy and rubbed the black fur on its head against Loki's hand. A subtle gesture of trust. Her lips seemed to hang open in a gape at the gesture. The Fel trusted...Loki?

"Is it yours?", Fury questioned with surprise, softly petting the creature that tracked circles around the black-haired man. He smiled.

"Somewhat",

"What's its name?", The Fel glanced at her with vibrant glowing white eyes.

"...Fenrir",

"Very imaginative", Fury laughed and hauled the creature into her arms. "Hello, darling", She spoke and offered the Fel the remaining bits of her food. Its sharp little teeth took it from her palm. She traced shapes into Fel's soft fur while she ate. Fury spoke.

"What's with the glowing paws?",

"Fenrir and his kind live in complete darkness, he uses the light to see. That and the other personality within that form is a wolf, quite a magical being", Loki explained like it was common knowledge. Fenrir glanced at her with those glowing eyes and tiny little nose. Excitement grew in her heart at the thought of the tiny little cat creature transforming into a wolf.

It was silent between them barring the thunderous purrs that escaped Fenrir. Loki contently stroked his fur with a ginger nature that was unnatural to see in her eyes. She stared with narrowed eyes and he spoke with a soft smile, his eyes stayed on Fenrir.

"I find this quite unnecessary, Furya...teaching you how to fight Valerian", He added with hesitance and tore his sight off the Fel.

"How so?", Fury question with a raised brow, sipping at the bitter drink in her cup. A light flashed in Fenrir's eyes that asked 'What's this? More food?'.

"I hate to admit it. In fact, it is rather painful to do so...You don't need it. Valerian bested you with the trick you've never fallen for. Had it been me that snuck behind you, I'd be in chains.", Loki petted Fel under the chin and breathed out. "Valerian relies on the fact that he scares you",

"So we must make him fear you"

"And how do we do that?", She asked with pursed lips.

"By dominating the Wildmen", Loki smiled that wicked smile. Fury's eyes lit at an oncoming idea.

"...Where would I find more of these Fel?",

"In the dark forest", That smile widened. "You'll find the wild Fel are fond of Asgardian flesh",

"Don't smile too wide, You're coming with me",

"Why?", Loki's eyes rolled in his skull.

"Just for that comment", She matched his smile that faded into a scowl, crossing his arms over his chest. She chided.

"And would you look at that, I've got a day to do it. Come along", Fury's smile extended as she gripped onto his arm and nudged him toward the forest.

"You seem to forget that I am a-"

"Whiny little brat? Pain in the ass? God of whinging?", Fury ridiculed in a monotonic voice, not having realised he had stopped talking. She laughed. "Sweetheart, I know you're a God. So put your big boy pants on and Act like one",

"Your manners are quite astounding. You must allow me to paint you", Loki breathed out, walking carefully through some thicker grass. Fury stopped, her teeth flashed into a smile.

"What animals do Asgardians trap out here?",

"Animals?", He laughed, "There are things worse than wild creatures out here",

"Then I better stop you before you mindlessly walk into that trap", Fury smiled wider and motioned her hand to the metal rod sticking out from the thick grass. She'd seen the bite of an electrified field before.

Loki stopped in his track and diverted back to the thin dirt path where the forest created a dark arch made of vines and tall trees. The ground was paved in leaves of orange and green all coated in unmelted frost that also clung onto the branches. As the name explained it was extremely dark within the forestry. It defied logic and reason. The further they walked the less she could see and with Loki striding ahead she had to trust that he wouldn't test her. The steel of her blade felt comforting in her palm against the darkness that groaned and cracked. Something growled.

"Loki", She whispered, halting in her tracks.

"Fear not, I'm here", His voice briskly cut through the wind. She couldn't see a damn thing. He reached for her and she latched onto the buckle of his jacket, nudging him forward. Her mentality of transporting prisoners took over her mind.

_Sorry_

That hand uncurled from his buckle and rested on his outstretched arm. At that point, they were in total darkness but he kept walking through the shrubbery that scratched at their skin. His bravery at continuing through the dark was commendable when she felt completely bare against the shadows that consumed their sight. That licked at their skin. It gave her a feeling of being watched. The feeling of being in Valerian's keep, surrounded by evil. Her whole body shivered at the thought.

"Furya!", A voice most evil whirred past her head. Valerian. She gripped onto Loki a little harder

_This forest is corrupted by dark magic. The creatures within are powerful. Fortunately, we are shielded by the dark. Glancing upon them would steal your sight and render you a mindless slave. Though they cannot harm you now, they revel in infiltrating your thoughts and casting echoes of painful memories. _

It made her wonder what he was hearing as he cleared through the dead forest without falter.

"I'll love you until death does us part", Valerian's soft voice paused her steps. She did recall the memory but she still heard that voice in her mind. 227 years had faded and skewed the memory but that voice remained as clear as ever. That promise. "Don't do it, Furya. You can't...Furya!", She remembered hearing that voice as she cast flame onto his court, onto him. It was the only time he had ever pleaded. When she saw the glistening tears in his eyes, it was the only time she believed he loved her.

"Come along", Loki spoke in a hushed voice.

He didn't slow even when the ground became soft mush beneath their feet. He didn't tell her that he had either. Her body collided with his back and she almost jumped from her skin.

"Loki!", Fury hissed and smacked his arm with the back of her hand. His hand clamped over mouth.

"Shhh",

_What?_

_We've found them_

A low growl echoed around them.

_Lift the veil_

_What?_

_Do it_

Fury exhaled a breath. She thought of the world between her own. A world of pure magic.

The darkness lifted. Luminescent light crawled through the forest in streams of brightness. The trees pulsed blue with life, emitting tiny green particles that floated in the air. The shrubbery danced in the wind in colours of glowing pink and purple. And around them, tiny flying creatures swarmed to their light like moths to a flame.

"Wow", She exclaimed, running her fingers along the ribbons of white that hung like fairy lights above her head, so bright and beautiful. The silky texture made her smile. Loki watched her, waiting patiently. His green aura crawled in vibrant tendrils around them. She seemed to forget how powerful he truly was. Only in this world did she remember. It stripped her of any illusion.

He was a frost giant but he remained in his Asgardian form under the veil. She looked closer at his white skin that glowed a slight blue colour. It made her wonder if he hid his identity for her benefit. She wanted to see it. Perhaps it would inch her closer to normalcy.

Her breath hitched in her throat and she cast her awareness around them. She was light, wind and pure magic. Her iridescence bathed him in light but he didn't startle or retaliate against it. Not even as that blue skin crawled forward and cast swirling runes over his face and skin. Red eyes stared back at her.

She smiled.

"Impressive", He growled and darted his eyes from his blue skin. She questioned.

"Can you form ice?",

"No", Loki dismissed her in a low growl. He was uncomfortable and quick to change the hue of his skin back to white.

"Okay, Jack Frost. Where are these fuzzy little demons?", Fury ignored his strangeness and examined the luminescent forest. A whining growl answered her question. In her sights, a creature like Fenrir padded forward with fur alight in spots of glowing blue, pink and purple. It was bigger and its cuteness was tainted by the thick scar across its eye.

"How do we befriend it?", She whispered. Loki ushered her to his side and knelt in front of the creature, speaking respectfully.

"Noble lord of the Fels. We require your aid",

_Do not kneel_

Fury watched the creature eye his aura of green then snap its attention to her. Loki was obsolete as the Fel eyed her off. It growled a low growl and before her eyes, it transfigured into a large wolf. Its growl shook the earth at her feet.

_Your sword. Brandish your sword_

_Are you insane?... You know what don't answer that._

Instantaneously her blade jumped into her palm and lit the shadowed woods in a bright purple iridescence. The Fel howled and shied away from her in a whimper. Her breath hitched as It shrunk down to cat size and sat at her feet, summoning a hoard of luminescent creatures to scurry from the shrubbery. They beheld her blade and sat before her in a strange gathering.

"Does this mean they'll help?", She asked Loki as he brushed the dirt off his leather jacket.

_We will help the bearer of the shadow blade, In return for the banishment of the darkness._

A husky female voice rattled in her mind.

"Did it? Did the cat just talk?", Fury question in a high pitched voice.

"Magical creatures, my dear", Loki justified, petting the creatures at his feet. He explained.

"The mother of that blade used to protect these forests from the shadow creatures. She was kind to the Fel and the other creatures of the forest. That sword could cast the shadow demons out of the woods which in turn kept the Fel alive. It chose you to wield it.",

"Let me guess she was a Queen of the 'Wildmen' and this is how I dominate them?", She bit and he returned.

"No, they loathed her. They burnt her alive, actually..."

"Loki!", He shushed her with the motion of his hand and continued.

"But...they feared her",

This was ridiculous. What the hell was she doing trusting Loki? Listening to anything he had to say? Was she that deluded?

The whole damn plan was so very insane. It wasn't her. She was scheduled and calculated, not whatever this impulsive and irrational person was. She felt wrong.

She found a decrepit log on the ground that's moss glowed an aqua colour and sat. Loki watched her with those emerald eyes that reflected the glowing colours around them. He approached her, shooing the Fel off his lap, and found the space beside her. The log shook under his weight.

"Remember what it is you are fighting for", His tone was low and webbed with knowledge. It made her feel less afraid. Loki gingerly touched her arm where she had rolled up her jacket sleeves and presented Valerian's swirling ink against her white skin. He breathed out, "What you are fighting against",

Fury smiled weakly and diverted her sight to the cat-like creatures that lazed around them. Just when she thought she had Loki figured out he showed her that he was somewhat redeemable. He held a kindness that Valerian had never possessed. And it annoyed her. She wanted to hate him. She wanted him to make it easier to hate him.

She laughed, a sad and out of context chuckle at how fucked up she had become.

"What?", His low voice asked in its enticing accent.

"You're making it very difficult to hate you",

"I apologise, it is usually second nature to Asgardians", Loki sucked in a breath of air and crossed his ankles of one another.

"If it's all the same, they don't like me much better", Fury huffed with her sights on a Fel with pure white fur beneath its glowing spots. Loki spoke.

"It is because you are different. Asgardians are so fond of their pure bloodline", Loki met her eyes, sweeping the line of dirt off her cheek from the wet branches. He seemed to silence every howling creature or swaying tree within the forest. His slender fingers lingered on her skin. She saw a light in his eyes, a relief from the ghosts of demons that haunted him. Around him, his aura pulsed an almost blinding green, mingling with her iridescent magic. The feeling was euphorically powerful.

"And that's usually why Asgardians cannot do what we can", Fury smirked, her eyes watched the tendrils of magic intertwine above them. His hand retreated from her face and she grasped it in her palm. The light show was impeccable but he didn't watch it. In her peripheral vision, she saw his green eyes glittering at her with wonder. His skin was like ice under her grasp and he was frozen in place. She had the feeling any affection had been reserved for Thor. That Loki himself was irreparably broken by it.

"You know what this means?", Fury met Loki's shining eyes. His eyebrows furrowed. He asked in a low voice.

"What is that?",

"You, my friend are going to help me dominate the Wildmen", She smirked at his expression of disbelief. He was quick to snatch his hand back.

"I think you overestimate your worth, monster", Loki bit and sauntered back toward the path. Fury returned his quick anger

"I think you got me killed and anything I ask isn't enough!", Fury thundered after him, violently turning his shoulder to face her. "I think you invited my demonic ex-husband into your land to fuck with me and I paid the damn price because you underestimated him after I told you. I goddamn told you!", She felt herself losing the grip she had on her emotion. That watertight compartment buckled from the memory. He opened his mouth to speak.

"You know what...don't bother", She growled and stormed through the forest at a swift pace, her chest felt like it was about to explode.

"Furya!", His voice trembled under the influence of the darkness.

"Furya!",

She ran through the darkness until she couldn't breathe. Sticks cracked beneath her and branches clawed at her skin with mean malice. Oh god. A sob escaped her lungs that burned with fire. Tears streamed from her eyes in unrelenting drops. Yesterday's excitement had caught up to her with a violent body slam. She still felt the knife digging through her flesh, the moment she knew she was done for. It made her feel scared. She hated it. She hated feeling so weak against Valerian.

"Fuck", Fury breathed out, pressing against her ribs in a futile effort to return her air. She felt like she was going to die through her uncontrollable sobs and lack of air that stung her throat. No voices from the dark forest could taunt her any more than that God of Mischief. She was a disaster.

Something growled and snapped the leaves underneath its mighty weight. She began to run again, this time faster and longer than before.

The creature stayed with her for a while but faded back into the darkness after a while. Wetness fell from her eyes with every footfall that crunched the earth beneath her. She heard the leaves lift in the brisk wind, she imagined them swirling and dancing in their freedom. Freedom was the prize for her was against Valerian. Fury stumbled on wet soil but regained her footing, sprinting faster and faster with no real direction, just cold air against her face and fire in her heart.

An unseen force halted her and jolted her back.

A body enveloped her. It's arm's wrapped around her waist and chest and flung her to the dirt. A soft gasp left her body as she slammed against the chest of her captor into the soft soil. She felt her legs dangling with no earth beneath them.

"Furya", Loki's voice boomed through his leather-bound chest. She struggled to catch her breath against the soft breeze. The arms that held her into his chest had saved her from a most unfortunate death. There was no malice in his eyes as he held onto her with God-like strength like if he let go she would disappear. She was mesmerised by his beauty underneath the fading light. His hand clenched against the bare skin on her waist, where her jacket had pulled away in Loki's swift movement. His breathing was just as hard as hers as she allowed him to pull her closer, away from the cliff edge. The heat from his leather binds soaked into her being.

Her tears had stopped falling but still wet her face with slick drops. She prayed that they would dry before admitting her weakness to him. She looked up at him.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry", He breathed out with exhaustion in his voice, his tendrils of magic danced around her form as if the see if she had harmed herself when she fell.

"Oh, dear", He murmured as the green wisps hovered at her eye level. It exposed her reddened tear-stained face and her body straightened against him. She froze as his thumb wiped at the wetness underneath her eyesocket with the care that he hadn't shown anyone. He held her a little tighter and breathed a long-delayed breath.

He pitied her, she could see it in his eyes. He pitied was Valerian had done to her. The mess that he left. A tearless sob escaped her in the sound of a weak whimper. That grip turned her shoulder from his chest so that he might see the blue eyes she bore. Chest to chest he lured her closer. His raven hair was invisible in the darkness.

"It would have done you well to fear me like the others", Loki growled with desire burning in his emerald eyes. Her pride overtook her mouth.

"Why would I?",

"Because I'm evil and twisted. And unbelievably Mischievous", He hovered closer to her face in an almost voiceless whisper that disturbed the hair on her skin. She felt a warmth in her chest that flickered with excitement. She murmured.

"Ohhh. Scary",

His mouth grew into a wide smile that sparked laughter in eyes. Her fangs brushed against the roughness of her lips and she thought of those red eyes.

"Then what does that make me?", She purred and flashed the crimson orbs toward him, smiling a wicked smile.

"Quite mad", Loki replied in a growl that came from deep in his chest. It was silent. They were close. So close. But he shied away and released her from his grasp. He spoke.

"I think it's time we leave",

"Uh...okay", She replied with delay, clearing her throat.


	25. Retaliation

**Retaliation**

The action of returning an attack; Counterattack

* * *

Vaniria, A black castle nestled between a vast labyrinth of pine trees and jade vine. It was unremarkable in its luxury with basic gothic fixtures and bland red decor. It wasn't even the biggest castle on Vanaheim, consisting of five floors and 16 bedrooms. Yet it was coveted, wanted for the magical grounds it sat upon that made the gardens green and the people content. The heart of Vanaheim had attracted the demons and it had been what had destroyed them using Fury as a vessel. Through it, she had started a war with the inhabitants of Vaniria, the overlords who had killed their way to dominion over the Vanirs. Fury burned them alive for their sins, they called her the harbinger of war, and so she was.

The heart of Vanaheim didn't refer to the world's life source, in reality, it was just a catalyst of magic that formed a millennia ago and attracted many with its beautiful blue glow that reflected off the jade vine and danced in the shallow streams.

When Valerian stole the cobalt energy the jade vine that had grown so wildly around it like a shrine, shrivelled and dead. The pine trees stripped themselves of their bristly needles and the Vanir turned over the kingdom to the demons. And Fury, she was the wife of an overlord, A thief who stripped away customs and locked away the jewels and fine gowns of the inhabitants of Vaniria before him. Yet the unimpressive castle with Valerian's hideous gargoyle statues above the entrance was her home, the only one she had known. Unconventional, she knew. But she wanted to give the heart back, with Valerian dead, perhaps she could. and If she defeated him. She would...

* * *

Flakes of glittering snow fluttered from the sky in a circular descent, bathing the golden city in fog. Fury revelled in the sight as her boots shuffled from the dark forest and like a gate shutting behind her, the entrance sealed shut.

"What are you doing?", Sif eyed her with crossed arms, barely visible through the white haze. Fury sealed her lips shut, observing the warrior's silver fur-lined jacket. The Goddess trampled through the snow when she didn't answer, a frown painting her expression. The vampire averted her gaze. Loki had disappeared. Fury spoke.

"Wrong turn",

"There are evil's in this forest. A malevolence that you cannot fathom. If you wanted to meet a most unauspicious demise you simply should have set yourself aflame.", Sif lectured with fear glistening in her green eyes. She hesitated in asking.

"...Did you see her?"

"Who?", Fury cocked her head in bewilderment.

"The Ghoul who roams the woods.", A smile crossed her wind bitten lips. "Oh, you didn't know?"

"Consider yourself blessed that she didn't lure you back to her den and feed on your flesh. For a woman who possesses so many shiny weapons, I'm surprised she didn't rob you at least...", Sif concluded with perplexion.

Loki seemed to have forgotten that vital piece of information before he led her into the pitch-black abyss. She knew It didn't feel right. He always had some sort of plan. Some inkling of trickery that bit her in the ass.

Fury reached for the silver hilt of her sword, her fingers curled at the nothingness that met her grasp. Fuck. She loosed an irritated sigh.

"She swiped that magical sword of yours didn't she?", Sif's dark eyebrows furrowed and her arms crossed over one another. "Pity"

Fury bared her teeth at the woman in annoyance, snapping her sights back onto the groaning amber coloured trees that peppered the woods in bright spots among the darkness.

_Loki_

She waited a moment but got no reply. Frustration rose in her chest.

"I would bid it farewell. Now that she has your scent there is no retrieving it", Sif chided and began to trudge through the snow, back to the comforts of the Golden city.

"Fuck!", Fury breathed out and followed after the dark-haired woman who turned to her.

"I thought I would let you know that Valerian has just announced that there is to be a ball to commemorate his return in 11 days. I suggest you make yourself scarce", Sif warned and trampled the snow with ease, back to the castle.

Fury thought of Loki. That conniving little shit.

_My dear Fury, back so soon_

_That demon forest bitch stole my sword_

_I know_

_You know?... Wait. Let me guess. The demon bitch was the bearer of the sword...The shadow of the woods._

Fury trudged through the inches of soft snow beneath her feet, carefully placing her steps so that the shin-high ice didn't eat her alive. She had already lost Sif beyond the mist and haze. She kept stepping through the frost with snowflakes raining upon her in perfect membraneous flakes of crystal transparency.

"Ugh", Fury sighed upon reaching the cobblestone garden, shaking off the flakes of ice. Wow. She marvelled at the hedges that were bathed in a light layer of snow. Red, blue and purple flowers beautifully donned the white spray, illuminated by the orange glow of the path lights. Even the square glass nestled in the hedges couldn't be spared from the soft assault of snow. Fury brushed her fingers over the vibrant green leaves, catching ice in her palm. She squinted towards the palace, seeing its soft shadow amidst the white.

"No, the 'Demon bitch'...Is just a Ghoul'. She is, however, the 'shadow of the forest' ", Loki's accent spoke with delay to her question. His corporeal form swiped away the frost on the concrete bench and he sat with crossed heels. Fury snapped her sights to the dark-haired God.

She was content. At present, being buried in snowflakes she was content. Her sword was gone. Her demonic ex-husband was to pop up at any moment and try to kill her again. Her bones still ached and her magic was minuscule but she felt euphoric standing against the winds that slapped ice against her cheek. Fury targeted the place beside Loki and planted herself beside him. His long leather jacket splayed open against the breeze, tapping her knee. She smirked.

"Tell me, why we are allowing a Ghoul to rob us?",

"The decrepit woman will lead you to her den. When you return to the woods she will recognise your scent almost instantaneously and snare you. Be warned she is inexplicably ghastly.", Loki breathed out, hugging his jacket closer with crossed arms.

"I'm stealing back my sword and killing her? Why didn't we do that in the first place?", Fury's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Loki smiled that sinister grin.

"Next time you'll have that brilliant shield on your mind that you've mastered so infuriatingly and the Ghoul will be bewildered. She will hunt you or some form of yourself while you retrieve that blade.",

Fury narrowed her eyes to the God who took such pleasure in mischief, a light flickered in his eyes but dimmed just as swiftly. She saw a childish demeanour within him. A passion for trickery and chaos that she saw in no other. But amongst his childishness, she saw the anguish of unhealable scars and unequivocal torment. A broken soul. Perhaps that was how he saw her.

Loki was silent and brooding. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, his chest rising and falling in his action.

"She stole something from you didn't she?", Fury's voice was rife with theory and excitement. How a ghoul had bested Loki. His emerald eyes rolled in his skull and he tossed the snow off his lap in a sweep of his arm.

"An amethyst jewel", He breathed out.

"I think it will clash", Fury answered, motioning to the black and green ensemble of leather that bound him. He sneered

"It was Frigga's"

"It'll cost you", She continued, ignoring his vulgar muttering. Her hands clamped together with her elbows pressed onto her knees, a contemplative stance.

"What is your price?", Loki asked with narrowed eyes.

"The Ghoul gave me some inspiration...I'm going to rob Valerian. You're going to help me", Fury breathed out with a smile. Loki waited. Waited for her assurance that she was indeed jesting. She wasn't

"...Are you insane?", He asked slowly, uncrossing his ankles.

"Most definitely", Fury replied and stood from the concrete bench before she froze in place.

"Dare I ask why?", Loki mirrored her action, towering her in his height, blocking the snow from landing on her skin.

"He wants to play. Let's play", She reasoned and crossed her arms over her chest. Loki hesitated then spoke.

"...What are you going to steal?"

"It's a surprise", Fury couldn't contain the smile that burst from her lips.

"Will Valerian suffer without it?", Loki pried.

"No. But he'll just about tear the palace down seeing me with it",

"Then we have an accord",

"Excellent", Fury and Loki shared an equally wicked smile. His lips pursed with intrigue and a dark eyebrow raised, examining the silver-haired woman like she were an equation he was trying to solve. She loosed a sigh and stepped past the God, closer to the palace.

"Where are you going?", His voice pierced the whistling wind.

"To bed", Fury replied with exhaustion as he appeared at her shoulder.

"And the Ghoul?", Loki pressed. Fury rubbed the scratches against her white skin, soothing the itchy sensation. She was sore and sick. Her body ached and her head pounded with the beginnings of a migraine. She sighed.

"That is tomorrow's problem",

She watched those dark brows furrow and he stopped her from taking another step. His cold hand lightly gripped against her skin. Those beautiful green eyes were light with hints of icy blue as they pierced into her own. She wanted to ask what he was doing but suddenly she was surrounded in green mist, cradled by its soft tendrils of emerald and forest green like the pine trees of Vaniria. Fury fell into the viridian abyss and it swept her into a deep slumber.

* * *

Fury dreamed she was fighting in a battle. Herself on the frontline, the harbinger of war. Asgard was white from the heavy snow and her grey horse shivered beneath her. The woods that bordered the lands of the Wildmen groaned at her arrival like a shriek of terror and before her. The magical Asgardians fell pray to Fenrir and his wolves. Ripped to ribbons of sinew and flesh. She watched from upon her steed with her flaming sword gripped tightly against her palm. Her silver hair was long, longer than it was now, it swept down to her hips and twirled in ethereal waves, unrealistic to her mane.

"Fury", Valerian's voice swept her from the battle. He was on the frontline, watching her with those black and orange eyes. His black hair was shaved at the sides and spiked.

"Valerian", She murmured under her breath and dismounted her steed. Beneath her midnight black armour that swirled to life with violet sigils, the ground quivered and the Wildmen scampered away like whimpering dogs. Valerian waited with his sinister swords at hand, their dark blades reached from his collar to the dirt.

She fought him through life and limb. Dancing like she knew all the steps. Clashing against his blade like he could not harm her. But her blue eyes flickered from him and she was not in the woods. Valerian had waged war on Asgard, the golden city which now bellowed smoke into the snow peppered sky. And that snow that fell so calmly was a canvas for the Asgardian blood that stained it crimson.

Fury wasn't winning, she wasn't close. Valerian tossed her beaten body into the snow, sneering at his easily beaten opponent. She groaned and clutched at a slash in her side that spewed red onto the ground. Her magic wasn't enough to defeat him. He violently grabbed at her silver hair, bringing himself tauntingly close to her face as he tugged her upright.

"Furya...My wife. I'm going to give your friends a most unpleasant death and when you are too weak to raise that sword, I'm going to lock you in that dungeon. You remember the one. Then I'm going to take what I want from you and when you plead for death when you scream for a reprieve from the nightmare I'm going to defile what is left of you.", Valerian whispered with a soft grin, jamming his other hand into the open wound on her waist. But she didn't scream nor did her gaze meet his black and gold eyes.

She watched Loki fight the Wildmen with ethereal grace, defending his city with effortless tendrils of power. His midnight-black hair was dishevelled underneath that horned golden helmet. His gaze turned like he could sense her aggrievement. Those green orbs glistened with fear.

"Or you come with me now and your friends live", Valerian smiled, following her eyes.

Loki manifested himself close to Valerian.

"Uh uh uh", The black-eyed beast tsked toward the God of mischief. Fury hissed at the blade that pointed into her sternum. The slightest movement would seal her fate. Loki stopped, holding his hands in surrender.

"As much as I'd like to see you suffer. I ache to witness the God of Mischief break", Valerian sneered and buried the sword beneath her armour, cutting through sinew and flesh like it were soft butter.

* * *

"Fury", Myra woke her from her slumber, shaking her softly.

"Myra?", Fury questioned, fighting the dryness that crawled up her throat. The curly-haired woman held an unsavoury expression, retreating to an array of medical devices that were splayed on the table of the medical ward. Fury spoke, rubbing her tired eyes.

"What happened?",

"Fury", Myra spoke with a soft tone. The same voice the doctor had when he told her that she was dying. That the heart of Vanaheim was killing her. She placed her hand on Fury's shoulder as some sort of comfort.

"Odin had some concerns about your health. About your uncharacteristic pains and fatigue...and it seems that while your body couldn't sustain living with your fire ability...You're dying without it", She breathed out.

Fury sucked in a deep breath. Dying...again. Perhaps this was the world's way of telling her that she would never restore the heart of Vanaheim, that she would never defeat Valerian. And so what if she died? She would be free from this meaningless existence. Away from Asgard and the wildmen.

What choice was she left with other than grovelling to Loki for her power? She wouldn't.

"Do you have any family? Any siblings?", Myra spoke after a while, narrowing her eyes with sympathy. Fury replied without any real comprehension of what she was saying.

"I had a twin sister...She was a vampire...She's dead now.",

"A home?", Myra questioned, hoping to reveal any sort of comfort.

"I had a home at Vaniria...I spent the rest of my life running...Being faster than my enemy", Fury spoke mindlessly, glancing down at her hands.

"You were a mercenary. A protector of worlds. I've seen you fight. I don't think anyone will ever forget your fight with Sif... What I'm saying is you don't need to run from Valerian. He is weak and you are not.", Her chestnut coloured curls bobbed with the dip of her head. Myra spoke again.

"You kill him before you die. You have three months, have him dead in two",

"I'll have him dead in one", Fury rose from the white hospital bed and clamped her feet to the ground.

* * *

Fury trained until her limbs wouldn't allow her to. She ran like death chased her. Until the sweat poured from her like rain. Valerian was strong. She was stronger. She grunted in pain as she forced her chin up to the beam on the roof of her bedroom, her arms threatened to buckle from the repetition of hauling her weight.

"Someone seems to have forgotten about the Ghoul", She didn't have to look to know who it was.

"Blow me, Loki", Fury hissed without thought, grunting with the effort it took to pull her chin back up to the smooth wooden beam. She dropped, landing in a kneeling position to soften the fall. Her white skin gleamed with sweat and her muscles pulsed underneath her black compression tights and skin-tight tank. She was ready to face the demon bitch.

"Hey!", He spat back, warning her foul language. She smiled a crooked smile, feeling her fangs brush past her lips as she bounded back to her feet.

"I thought I'd scrape in just under the line, steal back our things and then rob Valerian tonight.", Fury spoke energetically, sweeping her ponytail over her shoulder. Her hair was long. Longer since becoming a goddess. It seemed to grow an inch a day and swept close to the dip of her spine.

"Just in time for the ball tomorrow", Loki breathed out with a nod. He had been surprisingly patient and hadn't bothered her, he even offered to train her after Thor's morning combat lessons. She took all the help she could get.

"Exactly", She smirked, wrapping her hair into a bun to keep it off her sweaty skin.

"Your hair is long", Loki spoke absent-mindedly, motioning to her silver locks. Fury breathed out, ripping her tank over her head.

"Yup",

Her vibrant red sports bra was soaked in sweat underneath her shirt. Its zip front had slipped down slightly from her vigorous exercise and she quickly zipped it back up. The black tank hit the bathroom tiles with a soft thump. She felt quite fearless.

"Give me five minutes", She spoke, ripping her clean vest and cargo jeans from the dresser. She had moved back to her room, despite his weak requests.

"Fine", He breathed out with crossed arms and exited her chamber.

* * *

"Fury", Thor's bounding voice ricochetted off the narrow hallway that divided hers and Loki's chamber. In true Thor custom, he was chest to chest with her momentarily. Unlike his usual calm, his blue eyes raged with a storm. Mjolnir was grasped firmly in his palm and his brushed grey armour glistened under the soft light. He spoke with a heaving chest.

"What if I gave you the option to run? To be free of Asgard. Would you take it?"

Fury met those piercing eyes. Her mind was void of thought and reason. His question was valid. She spoke.

"I've grown weary of running from Valerian. I am going to fight while I still can fight because once he found me freedom was never an option.",

"Then let me help", Thor pleaded softly, gripping the handle of Mjolnir.

"No.", She responded firmly, shouldering past him with urgency.

"Fury", His voice was deeper this time, more commanding in its tone but she didn't falter in her step.

"No", Fury inched her head back to him mid-step with a smirk. A soft breeze shot past her followed by light footsteps and his hand halted her with its grip on her shoulder. He spoke softly.

"Stay.",

She turned on her heel at the words, clashing with those soft blue eyes that seemed to hold the weight of the world. Underneath his light voice, the words tangled into a web. He wanted her to leave that sword within the depths of the woods. To abandon the war against the wild people. To rebel against the 'King'. Perhaps she should have, but there was no halting the uprising of Valerian. He would never stop trying to find her. No. He would be her conquest. Her last.

Stay...stay the words ricochetted around her mind. They melted her concrete heart. How she wished she could have stayed in Asgard, stayed with him. To forget about the Wildmen, about Loki. Fury breathed out, wiping away the stray golden hair from his sight.

"No",

Then she walked away.

* * *

White snow rained lightly upon Fury's black thermal sleeves. She wore gloves this time to combat the freezing winds. Though the snow was light the weather had become so very cold. Those tactical gloves hugged her kevlar vest closer for warmth.

"You are not wearing that", Loki's voice sneered with insult from his seat at the garden. The courtyard was practically abandoned during the freezing weather.

"My ball gown is getting tailored", She snarked back with a smirk.

"You are trying to scare the Ghoul and you look like a terrible Halloween costume", The God surprised her with his Midgardian knowledge.

"I'm sorry, I left the fucks I had to give back at the palace", Fury bit and stepped forward, closer to the woods.

"Fury", Loki breathed out with irritation.

She bared her teeth and thought of her magical disguise. It took only a moment for her catsuit ensemble to appear against her skin. It was tight and smooth on her body. She hissed, catching his staring orbs.

"Better?",

"Marginally", He spoke, catching her spiked shoulder armour in his sight. She sneered.

"Oh. Bite me, at least mine doesn't have horns popping out of it.",

A wide smile consumed his expression, forming soft lines at the corners of his eyes. Fury narrowed her eyes and swept toward the woods with her cape-ish coat flapping against the bitter wind.

_Cast your clone_

Loki spoke within her thoughts, careful to deter the ghoul from his words. Fury cast her splitting image to her side, a mirror image of her likeness. It bowed its head to her before she set it loose in the opposite direction to her path.

She built the wall within her thoughts. An impenetrable shield.

_Lift the veil_

Fury imagined the dark forest bathed in the soft glow of luminescence and it became so. Loki shifted beside her. His hand tapped against her spiked shoulder plate, halting any of her movement.

_Watch_

The dry leaves rustled with life, snapping and crunching under the weight of a fast and agile creature. She watched the gangly shadow stalk the decoy of herself. It was unbelievably fast and disturbingly decrepit in its skeletal appearance.

_Now we sneak_

Fury blinked her blue eyes and before her, a stone cottage appeared, bathed in sunlight. Beneath her feet the ground sunk from the wet mossy soil of the Ghoul's home. Oh my god. The smell. It made her gag.

Her hand covered her mouth from the overwhelming stench of lavender and rosemary that sprung from the shallow body of water around the ruins of the grey stone cottage. No. That wasn't it. Fury stepped closer to the water that was glossy and layered in some sort of gunk, kneeling before it. The gunk gathered at her fingers in a slippery coat. It was oil. The whole moat was filled with fragrant oils. It was weird. A disturbing thought entered her mind, widening her eyes with realisation.

_Please don't tell me the ghoul is covering what I think it is._

A groan loosed from between her pointed fangs.

"Loki", Fury snapped her head behind her. He was gone. Loki. She thought. A soft tingle ran up her collar, triggering the panic to grow in her mind. She couldn't sense him. Not like she had been able to. Not through their bonded tattoos. She breathed out.

"Shit',

Her legs leapt over the moat. Closer to that decrepit cottage. Its wooden door was ajar and cracked in too many places to be repaired. Above it an eyeball watched her, moving as she did. The lidless orb seemed to narrow at her like she was its next challenge. She moved quicker across the threshold.

A dry heave escaped her. She wanted to vomit anything she had ever eaten at the sight. Fury placed her hands on her knees to steady her.

Skin. Asgardian flesh draped from the cottage, like wallpaper. Hair still bristled from the hacked flesh that was brushed with crimson liquid. Blood was jarred and contained in decorative glass bottles on a wooden stand. Like a sacrificial altar.

Fury straightened her stature, stumbling closer to the Ghoul's display of jewellery and other shiny objects. Her eyebrow raised. Everything was caked in dirt and gunk. It made Her face scrunch with disgust as her blue eyes fell upon her once silver blade that was buried beneath a newly carved tile of skin.

The feeling of dry reaching came back to her.

"Oh, that's disgusting", Fury coughed and ripped her sword from the table in swift yank.

"One down", She breathed out. Beyond the collection of silver and metallic tooth fillings, rings and bracelets she couldn't see anything Amethyst. Why hadn't she asked him what it was? A bracelet? A ring? A crystal? She circled the small chamber, darting her eyes over the mantle of the fireplace.

"A tiara?", Fury whispered with surprise, wiping the dust off the amethyst jewels that were surrounded in vines of silver filigree. How would she carry it back? She breathed out.

"I wonder...",

In her consciousness she projected her magic into the silver tiara, imagining it appearing on her nightstand in Asgard. Her blue eyes fluttered open but the Tiara remained in her palm. A breath escaped her lungs. She needed to leave.

Her steps shifted the dirt floor with a gust of wind from her swiftness. That eye followed her out of the ruins of that broken front door. Its dull bronze handle wasn't worth closing but she did, If only to contain the stench of rotting flesh. Its rusted hinge squealed with a high pitched growl. Fury cringed at the sound, setting her sights toward the woods that were bathed in the night but something else caught her sight.

Sunken, glazed eyes met her. A rotted face with thin strands of hair sprouting from its caved skull. The Ghoul's hunched pink body stiffened at the sight of Fury and black sharpened teeth glinted at her, webbed with charcoal spit.

"...oh, this is going to hurt like a bitch", Fury gripped that Tiara in her hand and raised her sword with the other. No flame licked at the blade. Nothing. Her heart thrummed a deafening beat within her chest. Shit.

The gangly creature leapt across the moat in a single bound. Its claws extended mid-leap, aimed solely at her throat. Fury slashed at the Ghoul, tossing its wrinkled form to the side off the end of her sword in a splatter of green blood. It's weight almost buckled her arm as she ran. She ran as fast as her legs would take her against the mushy ground but the creature was faster. So much faster.

Talons pierced the flesh of her shoulder like a steel blade slicing through her armour. A yelp escaped her. She slashed behind her, turning on her heal but the ghoul merely snarled from those jagged teeth even as her blade met its flesh. Fury groaned.

"Oh...shit",

The needle-like claws dove into the front of her shoulder, cutting through her armour like butter. She stared into those depthless eyes, glossy and white. They were an endless void of nothingness, of no pain or fear. Outrunning the beast was impossible. Killing it was impossible. Fury's body flung like a cat toy out of the creature's grasp. She yelped as the moat of oil consumed her, seeping into her claw wounds with a bitter sting. The ghoul flung itself onto her, submerging her head underneath the oil bath. Fury tried to fight against it. Tried to breathe but it was strong. So strong. She felt the claws cut through her skin, tearing her body apart. No. No. No. Fear gripped her heart. It paralyzed her.

Nothing. Her mind was void of thought. Void of an escape. She was terrified and flailing beneath the beast. Worst above all, she was alone with no one to come to her aid. With no one to distract the Ghoul. Fury raised her hand above the body of water but it seemed to hit a solid ceiling. She was trapped beneath the surface like a magical snare. The lavender roots slithered towards her, snaking around her wrists, pinning down her ankles. She couldn't move.

She couldn't open her eyes, couldn't bear to see the beast looking down at her, watching her writhe beneath its decrepit body. Fury screamed, allowing the oil into her lungs as the beast cut into her skin, burning at her waist.

Light streamed through the oil and a shadow appeared on the bank of the water. It watched her struggle. It revelled in her defeat. It was Valerian. She knew it was. He would watch the water plants curl around her limbs until her breath was torn from her lungs and her body lay motionlessly in the beast's keep. No. She couldn't die. Not now. Not before she saw the life drain from Valerian's eyes. She was stronger than him. So strong. And Fury, she was not afraid.

A fire burned within her core. It consumed her. It became her and that creature, that ghastly beast, it had chosen its victim poorly. A goddess burst through the oil, through the Ghoul's magic. A being of pure ethereal grace and power. And that beast it beheld her in awe and wonder. Fury towered the creature with anger surging through her core and she saw it. She was glowing like a beacon of light and pure magic. An iridescent lux of power.

Fury snarled toward retreating eyes. Perhaps if she were a human she would have felt sorry for the miserable creature. Perhaps she would have spared it's quivering little life. But she was not a hero and she was not an esteemed warrior. So she gripped the sword firmly in her palm and struck with unequivocal agility. It yelped a sorrowful cry before its head rolled onto the moss-covered dirt. The hunched body limply splashed into the moat and she watched the lavender and rosemary plants extend their roots. It bobbed for a moment before the enchanted plants dragged it beneath the surface.

Yuck. She smudged the green ooze that sprayed her form and trudged toward the dark forest. Her eyes widened. Tree by tree the darkness retreated like a spotlight had been cast upon the woods. Sunlight beamed through the branches of plants that had never seen it and the wild Fel sprung from their hiding place.

_You have freed us_

She heard that low feminine voice within her mind and bowed her head to the catlike creature. Its luminous orange orbs examined her.

Fury checked that the Tiara was still in her palm. The silver filigree was now stained in her crimson blood from the wounds on her shoulder. She sucked in a breath, lightly touching the tear at her side, a ghastly gash that poured blood.

"Ugh", A groan fell from her lips.

_Your Magic will work now_

The Fel communicated without speaking a word.

"Loki", Fury groaned, clutching at her waist with her sword gripped loosely in her fingertips.

The God of Mischief appeared after a short while, dazed and confused. Fury flashed a glare and his ghost became a solid being.

"Furya",

She silenced him by tossing the dark-haired God the Amethyst Tiara. He caught it with ease and stared at the silver object with lustful eyes then flickered a glance to her fading form like it were a choice between taking the beloved Tiara or saving her. She knew from the look in his sparkling orbs that the Tiara was much more than just some jewellery. Perhaps he'd take it and run.

Fury buckled underneath her weight and her knees sank deep into the mossy soil. Pain rippled through her core with unflinching malice. It dribbled down her waist with the same viciousness. She sucked in a deep breath, baring her teeth in the agony. Her hands quivered against the profuse quantity of red liquid and the stench of her Lavender and Rosemary infused armour made her gag.

A shadow stepped into her sight and she raised her head to look at it. It was one of the Fel, a black and white creature that padded to her side. She watched its little glowing paws sink into the soft soil. It sniffed her with wide nostrils, shaking its head with a soft sneeze. It watched another being approach with light feet.

"Furya", Loki's low accent sounded and the soil shifted beneath him. Her blue eyes sighted his pale face that had been clawed and bruised. He handled her softly with a shadow of fear in his emerald orbs. She coughed and set forth an eruption of burning within her core. Liquid dribbled from between her sealed lips. It was disgusting. Fury spat out the blood and sighed a miserable groan.

Loki grimaced at the crimson spatter and sunk close beside her. The Fel held Loki's stare with an unnerving stillness. Her blue eyes narrowed with curiosity, perhaps they were talking to each other. No. They were indeed communicating with each other.

"You know...You didn't have to kill the Ghoul", Loki smirked, raising his sight to her. Fury spoke, her voice was hoarse and dry of humour.

"After it did this", She motioned to her bloodied form with a growl, "Yes I did",

Loki's green eyes surveyed the tatty cottage for a while, seemingly halting at the Ghoul's detached skull by the body of water. For a moment it seemed that he had forgotten that she wasn't a pristine warrior of honour or valour. That she was a little twisted, a little disturbed. Loki chided.

"Very well",

The Fel tapped its small glowing paw against Fury's thigh and wrinkled its pink nose at The God of Mischief in a silent hiss. Fury groaned with pain. Damn it, Loki. Was the mischievous little cretin going to heal her or what? She knew what he'd say. 'Heal yourself'. She sneered with disdain in a silent battle. Yet before she could even attempt to try Loki summoned a green swirl of magic. Its sparkling tendrils licked at her skin, sewing and healing her beaten form.

"What happened to you?", Fury asked as the tendrils receded, taking with them the bite of her wounds. Her eyes flickered to the precious jewel she had stolen from the Ghoul. Loki had it disguised as a thick banded ring that sat upon his middle finger. Why hadn't she thought of that? It would have been easier to carry.

"I think it is time we leave.", Loki avoided her sight with swiftness but she grabbed at his hand. Through his eyes, she saw the Ghoul strip his magic. She saw him fight the wrinkled beast with his two daggers in hand and not much else. All the while the beast defiled his mind, his memories. Fury saw a black-haired woman flash through his memory. A lightly tanned skin woman. She triggered pain to explode within him.

"Furya, do restrain yourself!", The God of Mischief hissed, ripping away her grasp. A smile crept on her lips as he disappeared into the wind.

"Oh no, baby come back", Fury teased in a joking manner.

"If you insist", That voice resonated from behind her, softly startling her. She laughed and petted the wild Fel before following him out of the woods.


	26. Whelve

Whelve

_To bury something deeply. To hide._

* * *

Phantom shadows danced languidly down the corridor, waiting and hiding until Furya opened her bedroom door. The whining soft creak sounded and her tall form emerged. Black shadows met her blue eyes and a sneer painted her lips.

"We're going home", A low tone emitted from her throat as those black combat boots clomped loudly against the floor. She laughed a low chuckle. A maniacal chuckle.

* * *

The dining hall was swarming with activity around Fury. The hour was just before midday and the Asgardian staff were bustling to get their lunches before they had to go back to their menial jobs. Not one of them suspected that they would be the next mangled body to find. The maid, who had never failed to provide Fury with piping hot beverages had tracked her down in the hall and handed her the silver insulated cup with a gracious smile. She was a young girl, no older than twenty with beautifully braided dark locks that untangled themselves into waving strands at her temple. While she looked plain her kind nature was anything but. She never moved or even asked about any of Fury's questionable items in her chamber. She had however picked the Vampire goddess off the comforts of the floor a few times and carried on her day like it were just any other morning. She was second to Myra in having hauled Fury into consciousness off that damn carpet. Ayla, her name was Ayla. Furya sipped at her coffee-like drink that steamed under the frosty weather outside. Her fingers picking at her roasted pork and salad medley. She found the bread difficult to swallow from the hoarse nature of her throat and gave up on it entirely.

Untrusting eyes watched from her seated position on the outer edge of the hall. Men and women in golden coloured uniforms lined patiently for their lunches, each smiled at the woman serving before scurrying back to the seats to devour a quick feast. What a boring existence.

Golden blonde hair swept past her sights, a being taller than any staff member in line and more extravagant in golden armour. His head bowed to the staff with a smile on his lips as he stopped for a quick chat to an older male. Fury watched Fandral converse with such ease and grace, a perplexed expression plagued her face. She breathed out quickly and stood from the table, making a swift course for the courtyard below.

* * *

_Loki_

Green eyes swept across the courtyard. Above him, gracing the balcony with her presence, Fury had come into sight. He glanced around with caution, knowing no one could see through his cloaking spell. Not even Fury in her vast greatness. He often used it to expose her sneaking, something she did well.

The woman walked viciously fast through the golden balcony, closer and closer to the stairs. Then she stopped, summoned by a voice calling her name. He watched that scowl creep onto her expression queuing Fandral's meaningless presence. The fool stepped quickly to catch up with her, lightly grasping her forearm when he did.

Fandral spoke with a smile upon his lips, staring as if she held the essence of his soul. It was the most intrigued he had ever seen the easily swayed beast. Loki sighed with irritation, she was wasting time. And no matter how she tried to get away, Fandral lured her back with a subject of interest. She need have only looked down and she would have seen Loki waiting.

Fenrir gathered at his feet. The furry creature weaved figure-eight shapes between his legs.

"Go away. Go-", Loki sighed, submitting to the creature and petting his striped fur lightly. Those glowing eyes watched Fury with Loki's same curiosity and question towards the golden-haired God who had stopped her. A growl emitted deep from the tiny beast's throat.

"Settle, Fenrir", Loki reassured the Fel in a soft voice.

_I kill the man who touches Fire lady?_

"Not yet", The God replied with a smile, watching the black armoured woman converse with Fandral. She wore her boring Midgardian armour with two guns strapped against her thighs. It was truly a misinterpretation of the power she held. Of the Goddess he had forged. Perhaps that was why she had donned it. To trick Valerian. How exciting.

_I gather Fire Lady?_

"No Fenr-", Loki halted mid-sentence, glaring daggers to the man who tried so valiantly to woo Fury. "Actually,"

He need not have said anymore as the speedy creature zoomed from his side and up those stone stairs like the Ghoul herself was on his tail. Fandral, the witless filth decided to make his move. Had Fury's armour been indicative that she was going somewhere she shouldn't be or perhaps her unashamed suspicious behaviour? Had she told him where they would go? Would he beg her to stay as his pitiful brother had?

Fandral, the man of abrupt action crept closer to those pointed fangs hung over crimson lips. He was unashamed that a whole hall of people would be watching. But Loki hadn't needed Fenrir to intercept the horrid kiss. Fury herself saw to it that Fandral halted all the same. She turned her glance. Her blue eyes seemed to bear down on Loki amidst the misty wind and his cloak. She stared into him and through his being and those lips spoke a harsh word that sent Fandral away. What a shame.

She was still for a moment and her face contemplative. Loki beheld her inner humanity. Engrossed by its ferocity that burned within her core. She felt emotions twofold. Like she carried the weight of the world. Because she did. He knew If she failed to contain the Wildmen within their land Asgard would fall into chaos and ruin. That the spells he had cast to guard the palace would crumble under the might of the magical beings. They feared Loki and they would learn to fear Fury.

Blue eyes wrinkled into a smile at Fenrir and she reached to pick the creature up, sweeping him onto her armed form.

"Are you quite satisfied?", A voice filled the void of silence at his shoulder, behind him as per her insult.

"Furya, you're late", Loki turned his head an inch to see her form standing at his shoulder with an unfamiliar closeness. She placed a silver jewel into his palm at his side.

"Wear this and shut up",

"Oh, but I didn't bring you any...", His eyes studied the talisman, it was old and caked with gunk. "decrepit and disgusting arte-"

"Shhh.", Fury rolled her eyes, silencing him with the motion of her hand.

"My, aren't we discontent", Loki smirked, pocketing the talisman into his jacket. Fury rolled her eyes back into her skull and viciously took his hand. Loki chuckled a wicked laugh and transported them into the heart of Vaniria.

* * *

Darkness consumed the heart of the black castle. It was early night yet no life echoed through the halls nor did the smell of cooking food greet them. It was dead within Vaniria. Suspiciously dead.

Fury snuck quickly through the narrow corridors without a word as he followed behind with a sense of excitement. She moved so gracefully and calculated throughout the castle. Like a shadow creeping through the halls. Soft voices met the God's ears and he cast a glance toward Fury who met it with a knowing nod. She flickered her eyes around the shadowed corridor, meeting the nook of a pillar with a devious grin.

Loki loosed a sigh, snarling as she viciously tackled him into the disgusting space where spiderwebs hung and dirt spawned from. His back slammed into the brick with a soft thud and Fury almost jammed herself on top of him. Contemplation crossed her blue eyes as he opened his mouth to sneer but she clamped it shut with her hand.

"Shhh", She warned, placing a finger over her lips. A small amount of moonlight bathed her shoulder and she turned into him, crushing his body against the brick. A soft groan escaped him as she tossed her hair over her shoulder, flicking his face with white strands of hair. He didn't need to see her face to know that a smirk was perched on those crimson lips. His green eyes observed the two figures that conversed while striding through the palace. Guards. He smirked.

"Okay", Fury leapt off his body as the Guards scampered out of sight. She launched down the hall, waiting for him to wipe the cobwebs of his leather jacket at the stairs. It was disgusting.

_Today would be ideal_

She hissed through their bonded link, making the tattoo itch at his neck. He growled silently, quickening his pace.

The hall of Vaniria awaited them below the winding stair, welcoming them into a room of heavy black colours. Loki grimaced at the unfortunate deep blue carpet and raised his sight to the ugly painting above the pointed throne. It stopped him in his tracks. A chuckle escaped his throat, followed by a sneering glare from Furya.

Valerian was depicted in the portrait. A younger boy with fewer scars and smaller stature. He was dressed in the finest clothes that money could buy back in the era it was painted. Beside him, a silver-haired woman stood. She was tall and slim next to Valerian. Yet her clothes didn't match the grandeur of the overlord. She wore a hideous gown of white ruffles. Had he not seen the blue eyes he would never have guess it had once been Fury.

Fury paid it a second of her time, breathing out her agitation before storming forwards toward the vault. Loki was almost howling in the joy it brought him to see multiple photos and portraits of the silver-haired woman. Valerian had almost created a shrine to mourn her. It was quite sad.

He still loved her so dearly despite what destruction had followed. It was clear to see. And Fury, did she feel the same? Undoubtedly. It made Loki loathe that the disgusting demon had been so fortunate as to meet her first. That Fury, despite her venomous words and unsettling cruelty, had loved the beast without compare.

Loki frowned and followed after Fury, into the dimly lit vault which was encased in steel.

"Give me the talisman", She ordered. Loki reached for the grimy object in his pocket and handed it over to the woman who bore a soft smile.

"I can't believe you actually touched this", Fury laughed and tossed the disgusting metal object over her shoulder.

"I beg your pardon?", Loki asked with squinted eyes. She didn't answer as she tapped a pattern onto the silver surface. It groaned and creaked but didn't open.

"Your work is truly captivating", Loki sneered, eyeing the metal circle that lay on the dirty floor. Fury beheld him with narrowed eyes and rested her palm against the wall. A dry breeze clawed through the black grate in the floor, tossing her light hair over her shoulder. She spoke, tapping her nails on the surface of the trick wall.

"Valerian is most definitely your calibre of person. I'm yet to understand your 'shared' animosity",

Loki smiled a soft smirk that diverted his green orbs to that grate in the floor. He had waited for the brilliant Fury to ask. She looked at him as if to determine whether his answer would gain him entry into the vault or no. She resembled Fenrir's warning sneer with narrowed eyes and her nose scrunched into fine wrinkles. Such a vivacious creature Fury was.

"Valerian is a snivelling demon who feeds off the week. I may be villainous but even I would not befriend such an abomination.",

Fury blinked slowly at the word 'abomination', uncaring to cover her disdain for the phrase. While she didn't defend the beast she didn't hurry to agree. Those lips pursed in silent contemplation followed by the soft tapping of her nails against the wall. Perhaps he had offended her. A calmness washed over her. Like another being had entered her form.

"And I am assuming you told him that?", She asked with an unnerving spring in her voice.

"...Explicitly"

Fury smiled an equally disturbing grin and opened the supposedly baited door without an ounce of strain on her agile little form.

"Oh, am I allowed entry of such a palace?", Loki stepped past her into the dust-ridden vault, activating a blue stream of light to bathe his skin. "I am truly blessed",

Loki flickered his glance back to Furya who had followed a distance behind him. Her eyes scanned the smooth silver ceiling like she expected something to strike from above. Loki spoke.

"Am I to expect an aerial attack?",

His taunting tone faded as the ground beneath his feet shifted and crackled apart. "Shit", A sigh parted from his lips and a dreading ache dropped faster in his chest than his body into the baited abyss below. Fury, who knew all the steps to this dance bounded into action in a momentary glance. He felt the sharp sting of her shoulder ramming into his ribcage before he even saw her move. She slammed him into the dirt with more strength than he thought she possessed, summoning a puff of brown dust to cloud them. The horrid woman had thrown him away from the trap door like a piece of filth. He groaned, paralysed in place by the breathlessness that she had instilled. Fury herself hovered above him with that taunting smile, A trait he had hoped to train out of her. That unruly spirit that laughed at his expense, almost wheezing from her enjoyment. "Off", Loki shooed her muscular form off his own. Her sharp shoulder dug deeply into his waist.

"Okay, no more traps", She muttered, wiping the dust off her black pants. Her boots were planted firmly on the ground long before he had even moved. Was she always this agile?

Loki smirked a grin. Though she lacked the purity he had craved she was indeed enjoyable. Such a boisterous woman the silver-haired witch was. And she would go as far to offer him a hand. Insult or guilt? He didn't know. But he took it without a thought, towering over the unruly vampire beast with uncaged fury. And yet those electric eyes stared back without fear of recompense. How he wanted her to pay. To beg for mercy. She waited. He knew she did. Waited to be hit, to be made to bleed for her trickery. Perhaps it was Vaniria that brought to the surface her true fearlessness.

"C'mon we'll steal you something real nice, okay?", Those words broke his silent glare, cutting through it with a smile. She examined the silver shelves of jewels and beautiful garments, tinkering through the assortment like she was searching for a specific item of interest.

"Bullseye", Fury murmured, carefully slipping a silver ring onto her finger. Loki peered over her shoulder at the bulky piece of jewellery was which was engraved with runes that encompassed a dark emerald. It was ancient by the looks of it and dinted in a few places. She handed it to him.

"Magic multiplier. It's really cool",

"Why would Valerian leave this in a vault?", Loki questioned with a raised brow, eyeing the arched ceiling that grew into sturdy pillars on the floor.

"He didn't know I put it down here", Fury answered while turning back to the mannequins that displayed exquisite gowns and brilliant necklaces. Her long fingers trailed the materials with disinterest until she sighted a magnificent gown locked behind a glass cabinet. He watched that smile form. It was true Fury custom to revel in the chaos that would ensue if she stole it.

"The last queen of Vaniria", Loki read the engraved plaque that Valerian mounted upon the glass. It was a full ensemble with jewellery and footwear included. Valerian had seen to it that she was never a queen. Petty revenge perhaps but it was nonetheless maniacally calculated and flawless in its timing. She was indeed quite evil. It sparked humanity within him that he thought was long-since dead. He was undeniably in dire straits. Loki clutched the silver ring in his palm, slipping it on to his middle finger. It appeared to grow with his movement, enough to sit snuggly. The ring blended well with his black and green jacket.

"I simply must have it", Fury distorted her voice with glee. "Hmm?" He asked, paying little attention to her.

"The forbidden thing. I must have it", She explained to him like he were a fool. "Forbidden thing gon make alarm go beep beep. Must steal imperative things first", Fury taunted with a smirk, pocketing a few small items and tossing countless weapons into a bag. Armour, devices and daggers she took it all, handing him a twin set of swords. "Now you can put your butter knives back in the utensil draw",

Butter knives? His daggers were the finest made in Asgard. Albeit the twin swords were undeniably attractive. The was no winning outcome in arguing with her. So He took them with a huff.

"Okay. Now. Ahhh...Once I break the glass you're going to take the things back to Asgard", Fury's eyebrows furrowed with hesitation.

"And yourself?", He enquired with crossed arms. Fury rubbed her cheek with contemplation. Insincerity plagued her unfazed facade.

"I...i'm going to run",

"It is such an honour to be a transport service to you", He hissed with a childish ignorance. What was she but little more than an acquaintance? An irritating and uncouth creature that thought herself worthy to command him. To enlist his services in exchange for stolen relics and... He sighed, having neglected the truth that he was indebted to Furya in a sum that could never be repaid. Those Wildmen were his own making. A product of his naivety.

"Just take the shit back to Asgard and stop being a little bitch", Fury silenced him with her outburst in her usually civil words. He smiled a grin that buried his objection. Loki knew she ran like hell hounds bit at her ankles. But if she hesitated for just a moment there was no question whether Valerian would kill her. She'd be dead...

And of course, his powers would fade with her...yes his beloved magic...

"As you wish", He murmured with delay.

"Hey, Mischief", Fury called, catching his attention. He watched her throat bob with uncomfortable silence.

"Yes, Furya?",

"Be good", She smirked a weary smile. Was she truly saying goodbye? To him? Such a lowly creature?

"That relies on the state in which you return."

The dark hair of her arched brows raised in perplex. It was indeed a strange phrase to mutter.

"I best not return and find those ancient artefacts in a shop window", She broke the uneasy silence while grabbing the blunt end of a small mace. Loki chuckled.

The glass shattered with ease from the end of the mace she swung into it. It rained upon them like the snowflakes that plagued Asgard. The deafening alarm echoed through the castle like a shrill nodded to him with an unnoticed fear in her electric orbs. It was his queue to leave. Loki consumed the stolen property in tendrils of green magic, disappearing in a second.

* * *

Fury

Alarms cried their shrill call as she bounded down the dark corridors in a swift sprint. Voices followed after her that had been gaining momentum since she shot out of the vault. Those blue eyes glanced over her shoulder and spotted a light gaining on her. Damn. She thought she could outrun it. Fury violently jammed herself behind the cover of the dark window sill. She was grateful no one had activated the lights yet. The silver-plated guards passed her by without suspicion, muttering amongst themselves. They were truly miserable. She didn't have time to dwell on them. Shit. The guard dogs and their masters swept towards her, activating the blinding lights within the castle. Fury's eyes flickered to the floor below then to the cement balustrade. "Fuck", She hissed and climbed the railing. Below the floor was a ten-foot drop between plants and chairs. At least it was carpet. She reassured herself with little comfort. Blinding strobes of white light bathed her from the extravagant light shade above and she dropped. There wasn't a chance in hell that she could leave unscathed. A sharp pain crawled up her thigh. "Fuck", She hissed with tears gathering in her eyes. The overarching warrior statue had impaled her with its metal arrow. Shit. She had forgotten about the hideous thing. Her leg had snapped it clean off the statue but those quick feet pounded hard against the carpet, dragging her damaged leg like it didn't slow her. Climbing and twisting, higher and higher until she met the hideous carpet that laid on the floor of the hall. Fury breathed out a relieved sigh. Creeping closer to the arching door that would give her freedom. Her leg stung like it was on fire. Blood seeped from it without fault and her lungs burned from running. She was close. So close. Ten more steps.

"Furya", Valerian's voice emitted from the shadows, creating the chill that twisted around her spine. Her eyes flickered to the throne. A woman hooded and cloaked stood in his grasp. Splayed at his legs like a pet snake. Her face was shadowed barring her dark braids that spewed from the darkness. Fury winced at the scene. Valerian gave with one hand and took with the other. No one would ever sit next to his throne. It stood alone. Metallic and cold. Cloistered away from any life.

"Why don't you get that poor girl a chair?", Fury sneered..."Oh, Wait",

She wanted to run. She needed to run.

Like Valerian could read her mind the arching door locked shut. Fury flinched at the creaking sound, breathing out a hopeless sigh. The windows were overgrown with ivy and dead rose bushes that sealed the grime glazed glass shut. Ah, the grapevine chandelier. Sharp enough to injure, but not enough to kill. Her options were running low. Guns wouldn't faze him. He was a miserable excuse for a magical being, but still impenetrable by human weaponry. A defiled perk robbed from a more prestigious being.

"You've come home", Valerian peeled himself off the horned chair, jingling from the chains that swung from his attire. His dark skin came to life underneath the fluorescent light that burst alive. Unsurprisingly that ominous shadow that had haunted her clung to his back like a second skin. Dark and forbidden magic. It haunted her too. Watching and waiting. Never striking. Under the fluorescent lights, she finally saw the black masses for what they were. Parts of herself, memories trapped within Vaniria. Tortured and writhing. Every sliver of sanity she lost to Valerian. Every drop of blood he spilt. Trapped here for all eternity. Haunted by her.

Black and gold eyes shimmered at Fury with a sadistic smile. A beautiful smile from a demonic beast. Closer and closer he crept. Constricting her chest tighter.

"My wife", His words turned bitter as he reached to trace her lips. Wife? She was never a wife to him. She was unworthy of being a loved possession. Unable to bear his children. She counted herself blessed that her human half existed to reject Valerian's demon offspring. Yet he still called her wife.

"Death did us part", Fury slinked out of his touch and summoned her sword into her hand. It erupted in tendrils of iridescent flame.

The woman who had remained silent chanted a string of foreign slurs. Whatever it was it singed her sword's magic like a bucket of water thrown upon it. Fury flicked her sight to the woman, her braided hair hung low at her waist. After she killed Valerian that problematic little witch was next.

"Who are you conspiring with?", Valerian had the woman's magic take the sword from her hands, clattering it to the ground. Shit. He grabbed at her throat, dragging her across the hall. "Who would dare touch you?",

Her kevlar vest collided heavily against the brick wall with Valerian's weight atop of it. He made it difficult to breathe. All she could think was how she could make him suffer. Yet if she let him see what she had become...No she wouldn't let him. She remembered erupting into light at the Ghoul's den. Valerian would eat her alive if he knew what power she possessed. If he knew what she had become. To keep her secret she would endure whatever torture he envisioned.

"Maybe you're just not as good as you think", Her answer painted his face with anger and she felt his hand curl at her waist. That rage disabled anything within him that had once been pure. When he was irritated it didn't matter whether you were an enemy or his wife...He was a demon.

"There is a man. A being of great power. She's been defiled by his...magic. I can almost taste it on her", That hooded witch spoke softly at the throne, heeling like the obedient creature she was. But how? How did she know? Fury's mind was a crypt sealed tightly...but Loki's was not. Perhaps she had bound herself to him with more ferocity than she had assumed. The skin at her tattoo itched more feverishly the longer she thought of it. She hadn't exactly read the fine print when snaring Loki with the blood contract, A signature Valerian move.

Another man was not something Valerian would appreciate. He was going to hurt her and he was going to hurt her bad. That hand clawed at her skin and his breath was hot at her neck.

"Does he know that you were claimed by a demon? Does he feel it when he fucks you? Does he pity it?", Heat rose in her chest. He was vulgar. A complete beast. And he wanted her to fight him so he could prove himself an alpha. An overlord.

"I don't think of you at all while we're 'fucking', A smug smile met her lips despite her sweating palms and erratic heartbeat. He growled like an enraged beast. "Five extra inches and I forgot who you were",

She was too short of breath to avoid the fist that crumpled her to the ground. He let her fall but was swift to hound her on the floor. A hand wrapped around her thigh, dangerously close to her wound. The other caressed her face.

"What is this fallacy that you've embodied? When we both know what you are, Furya. You're a weak and insecure little girl who relied on me to save you from that coven of Vampires. A minion that allowed me to defile your body with dark magic. Who was too scared to say otherwise...Oh and I waited for you to...for years. Fifty years you obeyed. A willing slave. Fifty years you let me bruise that pale skin, yet you always returned to our bed. Without a word of protest. You did this to yourself."

Furya gritted her teeth together so ferociously she thought they would shatter and choke her to death right in front of him. When she didn't reply he kept talking, his eyes mentally groped at the brand he had burned into her forearm.

"While I'm killing your lover in every gruesome and depraved way I can imagine, I'm going to ask him...", Valerian reefed her upright, his breath hot at her face. She hissed as he pressed into her gash on her leg. "Does she still make that whimpering sound right before she...", She stopped hearing him speak as a smile consumed his lips. This creature...A demon who was unjustly handsome and built stronger than any mortal, Though his face was scarred and burned and his eyes an unearthly gold. He was the psithurism that fluttered through the woods. He was the jewellery that the ghoul kept encrusted with dust and buried beneath more worthy trinkets. He was nothing.

She watched as another depraved thought entered his mind. "Then when you've been in the dungeons for days, perhaps weeks, When I am your only solace from the dark, You are going to beg to...'Remember me',"

Fury didn't doubt for a second that this creature of nothingness' intentions were impure. In the two hundred years she had been gone he had snapped entirely. She hated that she feared someone so insignificant. She was strong. So strong. He was vile filth. Unworthy of life and undeserving of this castle. She was just another stolen object.

_My name is Furya and I am a goddess. A sorcerer of flame and light. A witch._

"...I don't want you to suffer...", Fury choked out with frailty. "I want you to die",

She grabbed his forearm and stared into those vacant orange and black orbs. Fire blistered Valerian's skin and he stumbled back from the surprise.

"Argh", He hissed in pain, and his eyes, for once they wondered if he had underestimated her. Valerian's lips parted with perplex.

"I was going to bring you jade vine flowers tomorrow then-",

"If I cannot stab you with it then assume I do not want any gift you provide!", Fury felt the heat melt into her core like a volcano ready to explode in a molten mess. Valerian twitched and she watched the veins in his neck pulse faster. He sensed something.

The ground shook beneath them, startling the occupants as the arched doorway shattered into shards against the hideous carpet. It made the hooded witch flee into a scattering of dark ash on the carpet. Such a loyal companion. Furya shifted on the floor, waiting to capture a glance at the person. A groan escaped her lips. She held onto her wounded thigh with a clamped hand.

A being stepped forward from the wreckage. His shadowed eyes glared to the howling of the wind and it surrendered to him. He was the epitome of chaos and power. A creature so strong that even the earth rumbled beneath his feet. He glided with purpose and threatened with the dominance that radiated off his form in tendrils. Those loose tendrils tossed the long dining table out of his path without a sweat.

Fury beheld the creature with astonishment and an inkling of lust. The flawlessness in which he readjusted the lighting to his liking was something unchallenged. An ultimate insult to Valerian to have this being upturn his home. Valerian scurried to his feet, the weak miserable demon. Though he would not bow, he didn't dare kick the magical being out of his palace.

"L...loki", Valerian stammered with unease, flinching as the God summoned Fury's sword into his palm and passed the demon without recognition.

Fury smiled an unconcealable smirk as Loki hauled her off the floor with that sadistic smile buried deep underneath the intoxicating facade. His arm wrapped around her shoulder, luring her closely to his body. He halted her just before Valerian, facing her with those emerald orbs. His arm hung loosely against her waist, skimming her vest against his black leather-bound chest.

"I do find that whimper quite euphoric", His hand traced her jaw. A thumb dancing at her lower lip as his eyes shimmered with lust. They flickered softly to Valerian with a devious smile.

_This is only for show, dear Fury._

Fury softly raised a brow, uncertainly allowing the trickster to inch closer to her lips until they disappeared from Vaniria In a sinister black cloud. She was left peering into those soulful emerald orbs with Loki's breath at her cheek. It was exciting and chaotic. Loki retreated to a safe distance and that unexplainable longing disappeared. It was for the best.

Loki nudged the bag of stolen goodies with his foot, gesturing to behold the fruits of their mischief.

Fury smirked weakly, declining any thoughts he had of running inventory on the items. Instead, she limped to the white-tiled bathroom, switched on the light and lowered herself to the floor. The blinding light illuminated the silver triangle of metal that buried itself underneath her skin. Her hand quivered at the thought of having to dislodge the chunk of metal from her leg. She was still so sore and bruised from the Ghoul. Fury rested her neck against the cold tile, closing her eyes. She wanted a long vacation. Even a week where she didn't get impaled or hit or clawed. A holiday from being who she was. Her eyelids pried open and beheld Loki, crossed armed and leaning against the shower frame.

"Would you like me to?", He motioned to her thigh, his nose wrinkling at the unsightly blood.

"By all means", She replied in a breathy voice.

The God knelt before her, so regal and proper in his action. She forgot he was a prince. The prince of Asgard who aided so tenderly to her wound.

"Is it possible to capture a moment in time...A feeling and cast it as a...' ghost' I suppose?", Fury asked with a wince of pain. She frowned at the nonsensical babble, it sounded ridiculous. Loki's eyebrow knitted with thought. He spoke with interest.

"Show me", He held his free hand with prodding at the triangular arrowhead with the other. Fury grasped his hand with her own and imagined the shadows that haunted Vaniria. Loki bowed his head with understanding but no words could roll off his razor-sharp tongue.

"It requires a horrific measure of agony to disassociate with the mortal realm. To exist between life and death. If only in a moment. It's called 'Scattering' ", His green eyes softened their unruly stare. Fury pursed her lips in contemplation, asking softly.

"How do I get rid of it?",

"It Is trauma Furya, you cannot simply recite a spell and banish it. It is with you until you die. You acknowledge that it exists and you do what you must to survive.",

Loki spoke without meeting her eyes. His hands worked thoroughly to grasp the slippery metallic chunk. Without warning, he tore it from her flesh.

Magic tendrils softened her deafening growl working quickly to sew the wound shut.

"Fuck!",

A childish smirk crossed his lips like he had done something incredibly devious. He softly tapped her newly healed thigh and stood from the bloodstained tile.

"Thank you, Loki", Fury groaned, struggling to her feet. She didn't mean just for healing her wound.

Loki scoffed, "I didn't do it for-", She held up her hand in protest. "I know, but thank you",

His expression shifted into something untraceable from the being who had raided Valerian's keep. His eyes conveyed every feeling that he had ever felt, searching for an appropriate response. He didn't have one.

"Finally. I've found the mute button", Fury jabbed to recover some sense of normalcy. Loki smiled that sinister grin and left her to her own devices like everything would fall back into place in the morning. But it wouldn't. It couldn't. Not after that night.


	27. Eccedentesiast

**_Eccedentesiast_**

Someone who hides pain behind a smile.

* * *

_Frigga, Queen of Asgard dragged her steps through the uneven surface of the weaving concrete path. The realm of Midgard produced no hope for her endeavour. Her son, Loki had proven that keeping the peace on Asgard would be an unattainable goal. And who? Who was she looking for? Someone incredible. Someone who didn't exist. Eight realms she had searched and found nothing. No God nor earthly being could tame the fire within Loki. So she needed him gone. Away from Odin, from Asgard. It was wrong, she knew. To betray her kingdom to save her son. _

_When she saw the silver-haired woman she thought her desperateness had betrayed her eyes. An Asgardian among the humans. A beacon of light and magic. A witch. She hurried to catch her, grasping her arm softly. She turned._

_"Can I Goddamn Help Yo-", The silver-haired woman's eyes narrowed at Frigga. "...Queen Frigga". She breathed out. _

_"Furya, the bride of Valerian, what did he do to you?", _

* * *

The vigorous stirrings of a storm awoke Furya from her miserable sleep. Unfaltering rain pelted against the walls of the tower and lightning burst through her glass window in a lux of yellow light. It lit her room up like a goddamn bonfire. She writhed in uncomfortable restlessness. Valerian was coming back to Asgard that night. This time there was no casting him back to Vanira. He'd take up residence and hellfire would rain on anyone who dared to move him. She ran a hand through her hair that was slick with sweat and wrestled the duvet past her chest. The beast would return to reap whatever he saw fit. Her loose tank shifted, exposing her back to the cold night air but it was not the breeze that caused her shiver. She hugged her legs closer to her chest and glanced at the trickling rain. What a disaster.

"I quite liked that dream", Loki's accent pierced the silence in a soft tone. He didn't startle her even as he appeared on the opposite side of the bed. His long-form sat with crossed ankles at her shoulder, making himself comfortable. He piled pillows between the bed head and his back, wriggling to test their comfort.

"You don't sleep much do you?", She questioned, unbothered by his presence. She favoured the distraction from the vast loneliness that encompassed her room.

"No", He answered simply, settling into the pillows.

Fury breathed out a soft breath. He missed Frigga without compare. Her absence had cultivated the darkness beneath his bright eyes. It initiated the sleeplessness that became him. Whether he was torn apart by guilt, she didn't know. Fury had thought him incapable of the emotion. A mindless villain. Yet so much rested behind those glimmering eyes of green. Too much agony and anguish to compare him to such a beast...He felt it. He felt it all. Every single mortal inkling of pain and sadness. Deflecting it had become a second skin.

"Frigga worried about what I had done, where I had gone and I showed her.", Fury recalled, lightly hugging herself in the cold. "It is unlike me to be so trusting but she had those deep eyes that seemed to watch every detail and a heart that broke with every devastation...", She laughed lightly, catching that emerald iris'. "You have those same eyes that speak long before you do...And Frigga, well she was willing to risk treason to prove you innocent. I could see it in her aura, I could...", Fury breathed out over the pattering of water against the palace walls.

"And why would you help her? You, who would watch Asgard consumed by flame without trepidation", Loki fidgeted the ring on his middle finger, twirling the metal around and around.

"I was assigned to protect Asgard when there was no one else. No one was willing to risk treason. Not for you Loki."

"I fail to believe that you are so unique. Why you?", He pressed.

"I didn't like it any more than you... It was just another job. I spend a few weeks training with Frigga. I befriend you. Get you away from Asgard. I get paid and I get home in time for supper", She lied without falter. It was something she did well. Something comfortable that she almost believed. The more in-depth the lie the better. Perhaps she'd lace some truth but never would she tell him. Fury would entangle him in her web of deceit. She could do it better than breathing.

Loki chuckled, a low horrifying laugh that encompassed the darkness and drowned out the hammering rain. "How well-rehearsed".

"Does it compare to the reason behind why you're allowing Valerian into Asgard?", Furya sneered in return, grasping her duvet tighter to her chest.

"Dear Fury, Are you accusing me of conspiring with a demon?", He spoke with sarcastic hurt, crossing his ankles over one another. Fury narrowed her eyes with caution and hissed.

"Are you?"

His lips formed a thin line. It was an impenetrable force that sealed his words behind his tongue. He watched the rain with a discernable scowl that wrinkled his otherwise flawless skin. The moonlight bathed him in an ethereal white glow, like the luminescent trees of the enchanted forest. Phosphorescent amidst the darkness. Once more she was to behold his unequivocal beauty that stemmed from his irritated expression. That voice which was like silk against her skin spoke lowly and clear in the night.

"Did you betray Frigga?"

Fury thought of what he had asked. She replied with a moment of falter.

"Yes",

Anger erupted from his palms in threads of green and gold mist. It encompassed the room in dull light.

"My dear, beloved Furya, How did a Vampire monster betray Frigga's trust?", He sneered demonically, standing from her bed like a beast ready to attack.

"I brought you back to Asgard", Fury breathed out, watching the strange creature halt in his step. His gaze turned back to her. The green iris' of his tired eyes shimmered with the ghost of an apology and he nodded his head slowly, turning back to the arched pane of glass that protected them from the storm. The thunder boomed with a murderous rage, shaking the wing of the palace. She couldn't read what thoughts stirred through his mind but she knew something kept him awake at night. Perhaps it was the purple beast she saw within his memories. Loki returned her wondering stare with a soft smirk. She spoke.

"Eccedentesiast",

"I beg your pardon?", His eyebrows furrowed with question while he folded his arms at his chest.

"Someone who hides pain behind a smile", Fury replied, flattening the duvet in her hands. That expression of curiosity on his fine features doubled. His long eyelashes fluttered open and close quickly like he was trying to decipher her words in their oddity. He was searching for something to combat her with but he simply turned back to the sound of the rain, glancing through the clear glass. Silent and contemplative.

After a while, he turned back to her and spoke a single word.

"Pulchritudinous", Loki smiled then disappeared into the night.

Fury's smile faded from her lips like a fire being extinguished by water. She hadn't a clue what it meant. If it meant anything. And if it did translate, why did she hope it was something that would solidify their unorthodox flirtatious behaviour. A sign.

She sighed. Her life consisted of Determining whether someone would run or fight. Whether she'd need to shoot or move. She didn't even have to look to tell after a century. It was like a sixth sense that she could read without fail. But Loki...He shielded himself from her. When she studied him she felt nothing. No Goodwill. No malice. Which made him the most dangerous.

* * *

Furya studied the black-bound book in her palm, a smile crested on her lips. Light streamed through the widely opened drapes, bathing her in the small sun the rainy day had to offer. She shifted her spine against the red velvet chair that had been negligently banished to the corner of her room. Her chest rose with trepidation, hearing the footsteps before she saw the mop of curls swept against her page.

"You know I had this nagging urge to come to see you. Like my life depended on it. I only remembered halfway here that you're unequivocally mischievous and gifted in the world of witchcraft. You wouldn't have summoned me would you?", Myra spoke with narrowed eyes, crossing her arms over her brown leather bodice. She continued

"I need not even ask. That smile tells me all I need to know",

Fury childishly grinned, flipping the pages of the book in reverse for a moment. She faced the paper toward Myra. Her brown iris' darted around the paper, browsing swiftly over lines in paragraphs. She spoke, reading the heading of the second passage.

"Telepathy for the Advanced: Mind...manipulation",

"Subcategories include Dream walking, Binding, Memory reading, Telepathic invisibility, Psychic shadow, Psychic torture-"

"Okay. Okay", Myra raised her hands like she was calming a yapping dog. She wasn't at all comfortable with witchcraft.

"And you...you can do all of this?", Her voice was low as to not be overheard.

"I don't know. I haven't tried", Fury knitted her eyebrows together, shutting the black book.

"Anyway. I didn't call you here for magical guidance", She sauntered to her bed where a black dress lay flat against the Amethyst quilt cover. Myra peered over her shoulder.

"Holy...mother of ruffles", Myra eyed the satin material gown that had puffed sleeves and a huge ruffled skirt layered in chiffon and gossamer.

"It's unfortunate I know...But this Black Vanir satin is over half a century old, it's unmistakable.", Fury lightly swept her fingers over the soft material.

"You'll need the best dressmaker in all of Asgard to make this into something presentable by tonight", Myra scoffed with a grin.

"What say you?", Fury combatted her comment. She may have asked around to seek recommendations for a dressmaker. Everyone seemed to tell her that Myra herself was as good as they come. She made all her own armour and attire.

"I think you're lucky that Valerian is as evil as they come and I would revel in seeing him seething. The dress is after all stolen from his palace." , A devious smile painted her expression as she crossed her arms over her chest. Fury spoke

"What's your price?",

"What's your desired outcome?", Myra rebuffed.

"I want to see Valerian weep",

"Then I'll need some black leather, buckles and much more material...and what shoes will you wear?",

"Ummm", Fury eyed the thin heeled silver shoes that accompanied the dress. They were ugly.

"We will need some of those too",

"Come come", Myra hurried, scooping the dress into her broad arm span.

"Where to?",

"Measurements, sewing and then a trip to the market.",

* * *

"Ugh", Fury groaned, rubbing her sore eyes. She hoped that if she rubbed hard enough she might blind herself and she wouldn't have to attend the ball.

"You have the easy job Fury", Myra popped her head up from the dress mannequin while stitching a seam close. Her face crumpled with calculation.

"I know, I know", Fury flipped through the pages and pages of designs and materials, a headache pounding in her temple. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what she wanted the dress to look like. In her thoughts, it was black Vanirian satin, tight-fitting with some sort of slit in the side for practicality in case Valerian attacked. She needed her legs free.

"Huh?", She glanced down to the huge binder on her lap as it's pages flipped to an empty spot and an image started to form in black ink. It appeared like the fine strokes of a felt pen. Her thought printed onto the white paper.

"We're settling on the look 'Mother of all evil'?", Myra swept her concentrated eyes onto the dress design. "I mean when I said leather and buckles I meant it in a subtle quantity",

"I agree. What if we leave the leather as a bodice. Forgo the chiffon. Just a layer of black satin with a slit on the leg."

"I think the whole assembly will weep", Myra smiled, handing the drawing to her sewing aides. The three women bustled quickly.

"This may take longer than I thought. We've got your measurements so it looks like you're going shopping by yourself. I'll draw you a map.", She continued while working on the satin material. Fury smiled at the hideous dress that had been carved and torn into ribbons.

"I'll manage", She bobbed her head and stepped outside the small boutique on the outskirts of the township. The dark French doors softly clasped shut behind her and she observed the old timely Parisian painting that came to life in front of her. Vendors selling yellow and red flowers in bundles out the front of stone encased shops that displayed fine jewellery, fresh fruits and even the odd weapon. Vibrant Shades were erected to shield the lines of precious items for sale from excessive downpour. The trickling rain made the tiles of stone glisten under her feet. That cobblestone led her to a quaint outdoor cafe which was virtually deserted. She had followed the lively trees that bordered the side path for their protection from the wet. She and one other were the only shoppers about in the wet and miserable state of the realm. The hooded man bowed his head while he passed, accidentally bumping her shoulder.

"Apologies", The stranger flicked her a silver-eyed glance and kept walking. Wait...She knew him. She knew those eyes. Quick! Fury grabbed his arm without falter and forced him into a shielded ally with a hand clasped over his mouth.

"Damn Fury", Dastan laughed and swept his hand through his dark hair, dropping the hood from his head.

"What are you doing here?", Her voice escaped in a growl while she still gripped a hand at his buckled chest.

"You sent me on a fool's mission while you went after Valerian", He struggled against her strength, tapping against her forearm. Fury beheld the black-haired man with tracks shaved into the sides. The man whose face was scarred and stubbled from neglect. And she saw a seventeen-year-old guard in Vaniria. A demon boy who she found defiled and beaten in Valerian's keep. A teenage boy who had said no to a true demon and paid the price. She sobbed when she found him and cradled him like he was her own child. That was the night she burned Vaniria in a spectacle electric blue flame.

"He can never know that I saved you, Dastan",

There were few things that surprised Furya about Valerian. Few weaknesses that he had. And when she did link the pieces together, well she thought it un-fucking-believable. He was obsessed with Dastan like a schoolgirl with a crush on the cutest boy. It explained why he loathed her so passionately. Valerian was inclined to the company of men. Younger looking men. The pretty ones with innocent eyes.

"You've got shopping to do", Dastan smiled crookedly and slipped from her grasp.

"Dastan!", She hissed quietly in the alley but it still echoed with more volume than she had hoped. He strode from the dark and seedy place and spoke without turning an inch.

"I'll see you at the ball tonight",

Fury felt her heart drop in her chest. "The hell you will Dastan!", She growled, stomping after the man who had disappeared like a ghost.

"Who is Dastan?", Loki spoke from the darkness. Fury breathed out a flustered sigh and straightened her composure. She spoke and slipped into the openness of the mist ridden path lined with orange lamplight. "Never you mind",

Steps tapped beside her and a shadow blocked the luminescent light. Now she was the only one in the town centre. Loki didn't speak but kept her fast pace as heavier rain descended upon them.

"Do you even know where you are going?", He taunted. She kept walking with an unequivocal burning in her chest. Dastan shouldn't have been there. She wasn't even sure if she had heard what Loki had said. She didn't particularly care. Valerian was coming back tonight and no one would be safe from him. To kill a kingdom would be unfathomable. No, He'd make her watch her friends die. Picking off anyone unable to defend themselves against a demon. It was fortunate that she inhabited a realm of Gods and immortals. **_Checkmate you sadistic fuck_.**

"Furya?", Loki pulled her back from the void that grew within her chest, sweeping the wet silver strands of hair from her sight.

"Are you alive or what?", Fury wondered aloud. He was pretending to be Odin but was he just a ghost or did he fake his death? He felt real. So real that the question had burned on her mind for weeks. She just never found the appropriate time to ask.

"...I am", He questioned with curiosity, retracting his cold hand. Freezing slivers of rain slipped down the bridge of her nose and over her lips. She smirked.

"You're absolutely frightening", A low voice emitted from her followed by a chuckle. She exclaimed, "Fuck" And shook out the water on the ends of her silver hair. Loki evaded her sight, exhaling a long and defeated breath. Like a wounded pet. He was astonishingly and unequivocally...Elysian. Was she wrong to be impressed?

"Hey, it sure beats being dull like that ghastly kitchen grouch", Fury tapped his arm with her knuckles, stepping around him in a circle with dance-like fluidity. He seemed bewildered by her assessment, by the sudden apparition of what sounded like manners. She enjoyed his chaotic nature that was delivered with an impeccably flawless accent. It required being in caught Valerian's keep to appreciate Loki's mild behaviour. Fury learned to dislike that only one of the men was labelled a Monster. The one who dragged her from the beast's drool covered jaws. The Asgardians sneered Loki's name when they had been in the company of true evil and said nothing. They knew what Valerian was.

"Greta?", Loki spoke with furrowed brows and glistening black hair. His skin was paper white, almost blue and those emerald eyes glowed a brighter colour than she'd ever seen them. "Greta the Gremlin", Fury dubbed the awful old woman whose scowl could curdle dairy. Loki chuckled, heightening his stare to the sparkle of her eyes. She smirked and resumed a more natural pace, watching the wind catch his extraordinary long black jacket that fluttered majestically against the breeze. The drenched prince trudged through the wetness without objection. She was impressed.

"Do we know who that Witch was?, At Vaniria", Fury interrupted the pleasant silence. Loki breathed out an exasperated sigh.

"She's not relevant. A conjurer of simple tricks. The same second-rate creature as Valerian.", He rolled his eyes, lowering his tone, "Anyway, with my magic, Furya you are astonishingly frightening."

"Magic?!", She snapped but calmed her tone, flicking the rain out of her sight. "Magic isn't even the pinnacle upon this mountain of disaster",

"Then I do not understand", Loki responded calmly.

"You wouldn't.", Fury breathed out and stopped at a shop front, staring into the streakless glass.

"Will you stop that. I'm not a spoiled child born of great fortune, Furya", Loki spoke softly, gazing into her reflection. He touched her hand lightly and reeled back for a moment. A perplexed expression pained his face. Furya clenched her jaw and forcefully tore his hand away. He had delved into her mind.

"Hey!", He scolded.

"Next time I break it", Fury gripped tightly on his leather-bound arm, motioning the action of snapping his forearm.

"Noted", He smirked that signature sinister smile, having gotten what he had wanted. Fury's eyes narrowed at Loki's plain black attire. No gold extravagance insight. While he could never appear as an average Asgardian this was the closest attempt she had seen. Her eyes scanned the long black jacket that was indented with some swirling design which disappeared into the blackness. It Overlapped at his chest with a thin buckle disguising the rest of his outfit barring a pair of unremarkable combat boots. His raven hair that had been saturated by the wet curled with defiance against the rain that pummeled upon in. She released his arm.

"Are you mocking me?", Fury smirked with an uncertain tone. His look was very Fury inspired.

"It is rather dull isn't it?", Loki jested, glancing down at the black jacket.

"It matches your gothic decor", Fury averted her stare off the glass storefront and lingered toward the next.

"Thank you?",

She shot a smile back to him, eyeing the heeled boots behind another square of glass. She swore, hugging her jacket to her arms, "Shit it's cold",

"What are we looking for?", He whined, dragging his heels.

"Myra has sent me for shoes", Fury's eyebrow's furrowed. She wasn't capable of the task.

"Why didn't you say so?", Loki nudged her shoulder, leading her down a dim road that veered off the lamp lit path. He walked into a shop that was the colour of charcoal. A little green shrunken head hung below the brass doorknob. She followed him in, expecting to see body parts in jars. The shop owner, a small but fearsome woman went white at the sight of Loki. That fearsome being that had rescued her from Valerian's keep sprung to life again as he held a finger to his lips and the woman collapsed.

Fury sighed and surveyed the shop of cult items ranging from sacrificial altars to ceremonial athame's. It was a retail chain of witchcraft. Dingey metal shelves held priceless items and fragile glass casing contained the most potent of potions. The orange glow of candlelight stung her sight in its vast quantity. Black candles in bunches of six or more littered the space. All were lit and burning. Loki veered close, almost into her. She shifted his mass with little more than a glare. He spoke with no sincerity. "My apologies",

"I thought the gown had footwear", He added in a higher pitch.

"The old dress did. The new and improved dress needs something of finer taste", Fury stopped and turned on her heel. Black leather laid abandoned behind a shelf of cauldrons and mixing utensils. A cloud of throat itching dust came from her find. She coughed but laid hands on the supple leather boots. The five-inch heel was chunky to her liking. The solid heel was cased in the strangest plate of silver metal. Yet It appeared to be the only item to reflect normalcy within the establishment. Thin laces decorated the front of the long boot and metal buckles were fastened at the side in a pattern of buckle, eyelet, Buckle. All brushed silver barring the black laces.

"Will that be all?" , Loki's voice resonated from behind the counter where he stepped carelessly over the shopkeeper. Fury responded.

"What if they're not my size?',

Loki laughed and turned her back to the door. "Trust me, they'll fit,", He chuckled with certainty, tossing a satchel of coins onto the shop counter with a dodgy note.

"Think of it as recompense", He motioned to the dust-coated boots, pocketing a blue vial on the way out. Fury must have peculiarly shrivelled her face because he laughed at her.

"Had I known you were buying I would have got the matching dagger.", Fury hugged her jacket closer to her body as they stepped back into the drizzling rain. He took the boots from her grasp and they disappeared someplace. Back to her room, she hoped.

"You look miserable", Loki observed, motioning to her far off expression. Her thoughts were torn between worrying about her slow death, Valerian, the Wildmen and now Dastan being in Asgard...She wasn't the most attentive. Fury sighed, eyeing the raven-haired man whose eyes shone with the smallest inkling of care.

"I am", She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She cursed the breeze that slapped water droplets at her skin. The God of mischief had no snarking reply or crude comment. He mirrored her crossed arm stance. Thoughts whirred in his twisted mind. She could almost see them.

"I'm unsurprised that you would refuse to beg for your magic. It is the true reason behind your misery after all. That you may die before Valerian meets his end.", He observed, propping his long body against the light blue lamp that twisted into two orange bulbs. Furya gritted her teeth but let go of the venomous eruption that would incinerate him in a deep exhale. She met his eyes and spoke.

"It is not within me to grovel to you...to anyone"

"You need have only asked me, Furya", He bewildered her with his sincerity.

"Would you have said yes if I did?", She rebutted the weak argument that furrowed his brow.

"...No. Because ramming foreign magic into your body is not a solution. Despite your will to do so.", He shifted, " A powerful woman and such, I felt it inopportune to interject when you stumble in the dark so well. It is incomparably entertaining.", Loki schooled her with an unyielding tone of slight annoyance. Fury silently scolded the trickster, settling with an unimpressed glare that warned him against any other honesty he wished to reveal. Ugh. She felt frozen to the cobblestone path, stiffening at the round of wind that slapped her with icy droplets. Perhaps on a normal day, she could have laughed and left him with a snarky comment. Not that day. The lugubrious mood she embodied had a mind of its own. She walked. Her boots thumped into the puddles of water on the ground in a rhapsodic thrum. Further away from the black-haired man.

"My dear Fury, I didn't mean offence", That voice purred in her ear followed by the shadow at her shoulder. Fury raised her sight to the green-eyed man and scoffed.

"Sweetheart. Don't flatter yourself",

"Noted", He grimaced, diving his hands into his pockets. She wondered about him. Why he tolerated her, Why he seemed to encompass her existence. Whether or not he was a friend or foe. Though he writhed and resisted. Like a vicious cat being forced to be kind. He was a friend.

"I thought of all days Odin would be preoccupied with more extravagant tasks. Rather than trapesing around in the miserable weather with me", Fury swept her gaze into the mist that shadowed the town like an ominous fog rolling into the dark. Loki didn't respond. She couldn't see much further than a few steps in front of her. The path had ended and she trudged through the flattened grass with no real direction. In search of some shelter.

Fury watched the sheer veil of rain that blanketed everything beyond her sight. It pattered around her but she was safe from its icy bite. An ancient Willow swayed in the breeze. Its wispy leaves hung around them like beaded curtains. She underestimated the spaciousness of the shelter. It was like something from a dream.

"Come with me", Loki presented his palm for her to take. She did and before her the 'dark' forest blossomed to life, dulled by the mask of fog that waltzed around them. But there was light. Blinding and beautifully streaming through the trees. It didn't seem appropriate to call it the 'dark forest' when it looked so enchanting. Fury smiled. The weight of killing that creature had become unbearable. She had done it without care or caution for repercussions. She hadn't thought. She hadn't planned. She just killed the beast. But as she watched the tiny Fel frolic through the moss-covered grass and over the stream of flooding water she saw the fruit of her fight and it humbled her. The cat-like beasts chased and played freely like over energised children, zooming faster than she could watch. There were more than she thought, close to fifty at least.

"Pick one", Loki nudged her forward with encouragement. Fury scrunched her face with perplexion. "What?", She eyed the little balls of fur. She wanted them all. " It saves me increasing the guards outside your room", Loki replied, watching her fondness for the small creatures. "Only one", He added in a harsher tone. "Hmm", Fury pressed index finger against her lower lip, scraping past her pointed fangs. She carefully treaded over moss and slime-covered ground, descending toward the river bed. Her boot slipped on the damp ground. "Careful", Loki warned and hauled her weight upward singlehanded while surveying the forest. How ridiculous. She wouldn't have fallen. Fury examined the unnecessary cold hands at her waist with a scowl. He released her like her stumble had disrupted his deep thought but still kept his closeness. She could feel his coat flick against her thigh as she trudged forward.

The gathering of Fel scurried from her path, forming a circle with her at the centre. They mounted rocks and shied beneath leaves to keep from the assaulting rain that rumbled the forest. Fury shielded herself from the blinding drops and from her palm, a tendril of iridescent magic erupted. It buckled under the rain but weaved against it, seeping into the branches of the trees. Back and forth it sewed a weak shield of magic above them that dispelled the unforgiving wet. She glanced to Loki who shared her expression of disheartenment. It was a poor excuse for magic. The meagre drop of talent she possessed for Loki's magic was not enough to save her against Valerian. She saw he was just as unimpressed.

"What's that?", Furya shooed the curious Fel from the tracks she made. They followed her behind her shield. "Shoo", She warned the few that kept at her feet. Beyond the comfort of her shield, an infant Fel lay motionless under the harshness of the rain. She had initially seen the violet aura that pulsed so strongly against its weakly beating heart. Fury scooped it into her arms, leaving her shield with the Fel gathering.

"The Fel leave the weak behind for a reason", Loki peered over her shoulder to the palm-sized beast in her arms. A Gunk covered rat by the look of it. Furya held the weak creature to her eye and examined the vibrant yellow orbs with an amber glow that blinked at her. That small face was a medley of orange and black fur illuminated by a solid line of black down the centre of the Fel's nose. It opened its mouth at her and wept a weak cry that said 'help me?'.

Fury hastily tore off her jacket and wrapped the baby in warmth. Her palm extended to the small being prepared to cast magic into its body. But she hesitated.

"Can you heal it?", Her head inched to Loki who raised an eyebrow. "Experienced hands and all", Fury extended the creature towards the God of Mischief who in turn hovered his hand above the little beast. Magic expelled from his hands in green and white whisps that danced and wove around the Fel. Loki's soft features wrinkled with concentration and he lightly took her other hand, holding it below his own.

Energy surged through her, it snatched his tendrils of green power, siphoning them from the weak Fel. It made the tattoo itch against the nape of her neck. Loki watched the black ink, following its markings. She realised why when her eye caught the dark swirls of her tattoos surrendering to bright ribbons of iridescent magic. A smile ghosted her previously pursed lips. "Cast your magic through the nostrils and into the core of the creature. Just a single tendril. He's only a few weeks old.", Loki commented. Fury set forward a small whisp of white iridescence into the small gunk-ridden body. It flinched in her grasp and she envisioned the energy weaving through the beast's being, suctioning out any sickness that dwelled within it. Repairing anything that was broken. But she hadn't done it on her own. She felt Loki's awareness in her mind, prepared to extinguish any fires she may create.

A low squeak signified the sudden wellness of the orange and black Fel. Those lively yellow eyes blinked softly between Loki and herself. A smile crested her lips from the white luminescence that warmed the Fel's feet and made its nose glow. When it unfurled itself she could see it was bigger than she had thought, extending the length of her palm by almost double.

"I should have gathered that you would take pity on the first strange creature that came into sight", Loki breathed out with sass. "Strange? No, He's beautiful", Fury examined the patches of Orange and black fur, wrapping the Fel tighter in her jacket. "He's the equivalent of an infant", Loki voiced, taking away any grip he had on her. "I don't need protection. He does", Fury mindlessly patted the wet fur of the Fel in her hand.

"If you want the ugly beast Fenrir will be stationed at your door", The God of Mischief rattled through his own thoughts, rearranging to suit Fury's new decision. But he still didn't hear her. "You're not listening. I don't need a guard", Fury interjected his thoughts as she walked back under the safety of her shield where the wild Fel sniffed at the creature wrapped in her black jacket. "It was not a question", Loki breathed out, flicking the wet string of dark hair that hung in his eye. He walked ahead of her to queue the end of their conversation. Fury watched the dark-haired man saunter into the misty rain like a scene from a painting. The forest was bathed in a veil of dust that glimmered under the dull light. And Loki, the epitome of the enchanted forest's beauty. He bound himself in darkness but he had a gentleness that was so pure. It was something dark magic could never defile. A brightness that shone in the dark of night. It captured her soul wholly. She felt that gentleness seeped through the magic he shared. It was calming and warm.

He was just out of sight and she stood alone with the sleeping beast in her arms, surrounded by a crowd of the cat-like beasts that stared at her with wide eyes. This was her chance. A chance to prove her magic wasn't completely useless. That her clumsy new body wasn't beyond redemption. "C'mon", Fury urged herself to embody some form of calm, feeling the warmth of the white magic that crept down from Loki's brand at her neck, down to her palm.

"Okay", She flexed her neck and limbs as if she was about to start a marathon. Her eyes settled on the minuscule patch of fur in her grasp and she watched its ragged shivering breaths that shook its whole body.

She imagined the Fel in her arms safe on her bed, clean and sleeping. Its nose making a small whistling sound to signify the depths of its slumber. A moment passed and lightness weighed on her bare arms that were licked by the wet breeze. She opened her eyes and the Fel was gone. Along with her jacket. She smiled a victorious grin that enveloped her heart in warmth. But now wanted to test the ability of her power. So Fury dove into her mind, searching for the God of Mischief like he had done to her many times before. It caused her tattoo at her neck to tingle. It was the sensation of ants burrowing underneath her skin. A second past and suddenly The slippery floor of moss and dead leaves shifted beneath her feet into a platform of hard dirt and long grass. Somewhere that had access to better airflow from the state of the mossless surroundings. It was an open path encompassed by towering trees that seemed to form an arch as cover from the elements. Thick intertwined vines weaved between the jagged trees, dominating them to its will. It created a rooflike spectacle. Fury snapped her sights from the dark and sinister trees. Straight to the God who rubbed at his collar. He was just in view. Fury smiled, casting forward an illusion to appear in front of him. The rain cut through the holographic Fury, hopefully not enough to notice. She watched it confront him. "Fury?", He questioned the weapon that the clone produced.

Loki would have sensed her. There was no probability that she bested his innate awareness. But where was he?. She narrowed her eyes to the black-clad man who glitched under the heavy rain.

"That move becomes predictable", Loki purred from behind her wet form. Fury smiled but didn't turn to face him. The hair on her skin stood against the cool breeze and she cast her awareness into the swift wind, feeling around with her invisible claws. She delved into the forest, snapping her sights to the left where the God lingered with crossed arms. A green wolf appeared at his feet made of pure magic.

"I wouldn't", She warned. Her palm flexed at her side, summoning the silver sword she had left behind. The magic that coursed through her from her collar to her fingertips seeped into the blade, flickering off its sharpness like a magical white flame.

"Therein lies our crisis", Loki smiled that wicked grin and set the beast free.

Fury shielded herself as the beast snapped its huge teeth at her. She swung through the green mass, vibrating off the pure magic. The wolf dissipated into a cloud of emerald bats by her will. He wanted to see a breakthrough in her magic and she wanted to show him one. Loki launched another wolf in a different colour. Then he released another. And another. She shattered them into particles of green dust that clung to the air. Loki stopped and surveyed her with a crossed armed stance, his emerald stare cut through the pattering rain. She could see it clearly the closer she stalked. He was thinking of something sinister and depraved to throw at her.

The whole side of her body glowed like a beacon of light with each destroyed beast. Tendrils of luminescence wrapped around her, replicating the delicate lines and spells she had ingrained into her skin. It was the closest she had come to wielding her flame since she lost that power. It felt euphoric. Her fist curled at her side as she deflected another beast formed from glowing energy. From the distance, a low growl rumbled the earth at her feet. It grew louder with each breath she drew. But it didn't faze Loki who cast another creature. This time it was not an animal. It was the Ghoul. Solid and flesh coloured. A breath hitched in her throat at the beast. She mentally traced the wounds from its claws. Rosemary and lavender clung to her senses. It made her stomach turn. The beast was skeletal and by all standards, it was the portrait of death. The skin had rotted away at its mouth, giving it an open-mouthed stare. And those white glazed over eyes. They haunted her nightmares with their uncompassionate glare. They were monstrous. A depth of unfathomable darkness.

The thought of the creature's cottage forced bile to rise in her stomach as she recalled the smell of rotting flesh. The sight of Asgardian skin displayed like fine china. It was unfathomable...Unforgettable.

A low growl tore her sight off the Ghoul that lingered at the end of Loki's leash. The Fel padded around her, emerging from the shrubbery and dense trees. Small little creatures that sprouted into horse-sized wolves. They shadowed and engulfed her in their protection.

Loki held up his hand in surrender. A sly grin painted his lips as the ghoul dissipated into the mist of green energy.

"I yield",

Fury smiled a sinister grin and whispered an order to the leader of the Fel. Loki's brow cocked at the scarred beast that padded toward him. It circled him with a low growl as Fury appeared at his chest. Her glowing skin pulsed brightly and the beast retreated. "You truly cannot stand to lose", Loki smirked, eyeing the silver-haired witch. She had lost too much to feel defeat again. She couldn't lose again. "You can't stand to be defeated", She purred with a smile, fixing the crooked buckle on his jacket. She was bitter about the Ghoul. Her visit to the beast was still an open wound. That ghastly creature had scarred her with more than just its claws. "I suppose not", He breathed out, tracing the tendrils of magic that wrapped around her shoulder. New and unseen. "I do apologise for the Ghoul", He continued, examining the white lines with a furrowed brow. She shivered at the coldness of his fingertips on her skin.

"You've learned to summon magic in the most peculiar way. A conduit is what I'll call you. Your energy burns so bright that it glows from your skin. It passes through from sigil to sigil that you've marked on yourself before it can escape.", Loki deduced with an expression of bewilderment as he trailed each line of iridescent ink.

Fury shielded the spark that ignited at his touch. "Excellent", She spoke absentmindedly. He flickered a glance toward her. A symbol on her skin stumped him, causing an array of confused emotions to cross his face. "Don't strain yourself", She laughed through the mind-numbing allure that seeped from his action. Loki scolded her with a glare, examining the lines that extended from her wrist. "Will I live?", She shook off his grip with a half-hearted laugh and a scowl. "What?", He asked with a question to her sudden sass. "You're being nice. I don't care for it", Fury justified, adjusting her skin to its normal hue. He watched the magic fade. "Do you not care for my company?", His facade of impenetrable sarcasm raised itself and Fury scrunched her face with disbelief. "I feel it ungenuine. I am as you put it so delicately 'A Vampire monster'. Why would Prince Loki be wasting his time with me otherwise?", She mirrored his wall of impenetrable deflection. But he did something unexpected and dropped the facade, cocking his head like a dog that didn't understand a command. She saw an abundance of answers roll through that brilliant mind but only one slipped from his tongue. "I like you", Loki met her eyes but decided against holding those firey orbs, "I thought I made that clear", His eyebrows furrowed. "I apologise for the 'Half-breed monster' comment. I do not think of you as such", He lifted her chin that lowered with uncertainty. "You are quite the opposite",

Rain scattered around them with unforgivable malice. Loki was the embodiment of a question mark. She hated how he unsettled her. How he rattled her. How she feared about his imminent double-cross. Valerian, she might be able to fight but Loki, he was beyond any skill she had. Before she got too close she had to know.

"Would you tell me if you were trying to conspire against me?", She asked without breaking the eye contact between them. She realised the childishness of her question. The morosis of it all.

"I believe that would defeat the purpose...", Loki spoke lightly. Fury stiffened against her closeness to his lanky form. Every fibre in her being told her she was too close. Much too close.

"Undoubtedly...", She breathed out a sigh and rested the palm of her hand on the hilt of the knife jammed between her belt buckle and her tank. It was little comfort.

"I'm not. If it is any comfort", Loki spoke with crossed arms. Had she offended him?

"I'm not asking to deter you,", Furya removed his hand from her face, clashing with those astonishingly green eyes, "But if there was ever an opportune moment to fuck me over, now, with Valerian and the Wildmen...It would be the time",

"Why would I?" His face shrivelled into question. Fury turned to face the mysterious creature, straightening the buckle on his chest that had become crooked in her movement. "Chaos. Destruction. Mischief. It would be brilliant", She purred, clinging to the God. She ran her hand over the buckles on his chest. In the back of her mind, she loathed the ease that came with her deceit and lies. Damn it. She had overshot and overplayed it. She could tell by Loki's raised eyebrow, lightly shooing her hand away. Usually, she could simply knock them on their ass before they saw through her but not him. "Stop it", He hissed with irritation, catching her adventurous hands hostage. "I'm not a child distracted by colourful toys!", He hissed with a smirk.

Fury flinched at the action and he released her. Loki held his hands in surrender. "...Shit. I forgot...sorry", He apologised, catching her by surprise. "Forgot what?", She asked. Hoping his answer was far from the truth. "That you expect to be punished for your chaotic mind", Loki answered softly, lowering his hands. Fury eyed the man who had known such an intimate detail about her. Her mouth formed a straight line. He was destroying her natural-born killer facade.

"I usually throw a punch before anyone can", She justified, sheathing the knife that she had half drawn. "I know", He smiled, eyeing the silver dagger that slipped back between the safety of her belt and shirt. He was too close. Too close to the truth. Run. She had to run. Through the pelting rain and back to the safety of her own company. But it wasn't Loki that was too close. It was her that was inches from being burned. Her who had mindlessly watched the God break through her walls of steel.

"I've got to get back to Myra. Be Good", Furya hesitated, backing away from Loki. She had to rethink her approach. "...Well. Don't assume anyone else's identity.", Furya smirked, tapping his shoulder lightly. It was collected. More collected than she felt. Loki frowned. "No", He spoke with disgust. "That's the spirit", Fury ignored his reply and stepped into the rain.

"Goodbye, dear Furya",

* * *

Loki

Loki watched the woman swagger into the misty abyss of rain and fog. The mysterious woman who had an ambrosial effect upon him. A warrior Goddess who embodied the word Virago. Strong and fearless. A hero even though she couldn't comprehend it just yet. She would. He knew she would. She crippled the villainous beast that was Loki of Asgard. She blinded him with her unequivocal fire. And when she ascended to the brilliant creature she was yet to become she would forget about him. He would become just a small flicker of light in a sea of flame.

"Still has an ass that could make you weep", Valerian, the dull creature reappeared at Loki's shoulder. His crossed arms, mirroring Loki's action. Orange eyes lingered on Furya's fading form that became engulfed by fog.

"What do you want?", Loki ordered an answer from the snivelling creature that dared to breathe his air.

"She was right to question your loyalties.", Valerian taunted "Whose to say you're not going to turn on me like you have your 'Dear Furya' ". Either he was too daft to anticipate Loki's swift attack that had Valerian gasping against the strength of the God, Or he was too scared to retaliate. "If I wanted to destroy you, I'd reveal to her the true reason you so desperately need her dead, and Furya would brutalise you, herself.", Loki released the disgusting creature that quivered against his power. Valerian opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by Loki's glare. "Know your place, demon filth"

Loki straightened the silver buckles on his jacket and backed away from the panting beast who feverishly rubbed at his neck. "Why was Fury at my castle? Why did you save her?", Valerian hissed in a bitter but defeated tone. A smile crept on Loki's lips. "Think of it as a surprise yet to be revealed.",

Valerian sneered his pointed teeth and puffed out his chained chest. "Once you get her to 'Wildmen' country. Think of our binds as broken.",

"Was it something I said?", Loki smirked a smile underlined with anguish and turmoil. She'd destroy him. Furya would undeniably burn him alive. And forgiveness, she would forget the meaning of the word. His one friend would disappear into nothingness.

"You've kept her alive this far. Don't fuck it up.", Valerian surveyed the God with a small smile. "Perhaps you did it for more than just our contract. She is, after all, an abomination like you ", He taunted without fear, disappearing into the wind. He was a fool for making a deal with Valerian. It was the price for inexplicably rare and powerful magic.

What had he done?


	28. Tenebrous

**Tenebrous **

Dark, murky or obscure

* * *

_Furya, daughter of Seraphina the leader of the last vampire coven scrubbed at the splintered wooden floors of the estate. A few had gotten caught in the rag she used and bloodied her hand but she kept on circling the damp floor in water. Damn Vampires had splattered blood everywhere. All on the walls and trailing up the ceiling. Disgusting creatures. The humans were moving farther and farther from them. They were killed out of spite. Grabbing whoever they could find. She loosed a sigh and dragged herself off the floor, closing the door behind her as she sauntered into the foyer. Her once clean and regal leathers stank with the effort of preparing the castle for company. "Ow", She hissed and dug her fingernail into her palm to dislodge a thick splinter within her skin. It dribbled crimson blood down her wrist. She wasn't paying attention when she strolled into a large shadowed mass. Black and Orange eyes narrowed at her and she felt herself shrink._

_"My Apologies", Furya eyed the beast of a man who stared back with the same expression. She stepped past him to continue her path but he grabbed her by the shoulder, forcing her back to his front. The demon made the Vampires who encompassed her existence seem like flies compared to his power. Fury averted the prying gaze, daring to never look a beast in the eye. She had learned it too roughly._

_"M...may I assist you, Lord Valerian?", She stuttered with a shiver of fear. Those orange orbs darted between her and the blood on her hand. He seemed to be the only topic within the town. And she understood why. He was at that point the meanest and most alluring creature that had ever blessed the hallway of Seraphina's estate. Everyone craved to know him when he came for mediation between vampires and demons. Ground rules and such. But this was the first time he had ever spoken to her in the three years his father had been sending him in place of himself._

_"Why are you cleaning for Vampires?", Valerian asked with genuine curiosity, noting the fangs that extended her lips. His dark eyebrows dipped in a perplexed manner._

_"Because I am not one, Lord Valerian", Furya bowed her head, sidestepping him to make her escape. He dragged her back._

_"It's Valerian. Just Valerian", The demon smirked and hastily examined her bloodied hand, wrapping his fingers around her wrist. Though she appeared strong in her leather ensemble she was not. She trembled beneath the beast._

_"Valerian", She cleared her throat, lightly tugging her hand away from him. "Will that be all?", Her voice strengthened slightly but not enough to offend. He smiled a jagged toothed grin. It made her uncomfortable. The way he stared at her like she was more than just a servant. She liked being invisible and under the glare of a demon, she wished she was._

_"I hope not", Valerian watched as she descended the stairs with a small smile painted on her crimson lips. He folded his arms on the balcony. She flicked her sight back to the demon to see if he was still watching her. Why? Why did he stare at the half-breed abomination who did the bidding for the Vampires? What purpose could she serve a demon? A bearer of powerful magic. Her own was a miserable party trick to scare not to maim._

* * *

Yellow eyes surveyed Furya. A depth of electric yellow. Darting cautiously to the light that streamed in from the dirt-stained glass. Fury adjusted the belt on her pants and approached the creature that had been sleeping in the nook of her two pillows. She hoped her shower hadn't woken the tired beast. After being fed and watered he'd fallen straight back to sleep without protest. They had yet to be properly acquainted. A low guttural growl halted her steps. Tiny pointed teeth bared at her and those glowing paws erupted in white light. The Fel, though the size of a water bottle, challenged her to step closer. Dared her to.

"Okay", Fury cocked her brow. Whirring thoughts buzzed through her mind. If the beast triggered his wolf form she'd have to beat off claws and snapping drool ridden jaws like she did the ghoul. She didn't want that. Not when her body was still so sore and beaten. Had she kept her human agility she might have stood a chance but this immortal body was heavy and new.

Fury outstretched her hand, sending forth a thread of whispy magic that cut through the fearful wall the Fel had erected. It looped around the orange and black fur and dissipated at the creature's nose. The Fel startled but didn't move as her waves of power soothed the beast. Assuring him that no harm would come to him under her protection. Somehow. Someway she felt a tendril of her protective and kind emotion slip from her body and cast itself within the Fel's mind. It calmed him. Though she wasn't sure of how she had willed it so.

The Fel stood allegiantly, allowing her to step forward. She did. Tiny puffs of air disturbed the hairs on her arm as he sniffed at her skin, breathing in the magic particles that danced in the air. Suddenly he was rolling and rubbing his head against her skin like he was drunk off the magic. She couldn't help but laugh as those glowing paws flailed and his nose dove into the satin quilt. She petted his chin softly and he froze.

The creature flipped himself in a second and stared into her eyes, approaching with unexplained malice. The magic was stripped from the surrounds. Absorbed into the Fel's cat-shaped body. His pointed eats flattened but those teeth stayed behind his mouth. He came so close to her that she thought he might just bite her face and be done with her. But he was transfixed. Entranced by her blue eyes.

_Mine_

The Fel's unsettlingly light voice echoed in her mind, establishing a mental connection. White teeth flashed and she felt a searing pain in her wrist as the creature marked her as his own. Fury flinched away from the Fel, reeling her wrist away. Expecting to see a stream of blood. But she didn't. Instead, a brand of swirling lines crawled down her palm, creating a crest with the letter F in the centre of her hand. It pulsed with orange life then faded back into solid black.

"I suppose this means you are mine, Tallon", Fury assured the creature. Naming him after the warship that had decimated anything and everything that came into contact with its guns. A warrior.

* * *

As midday struck the rain retreated into the bright sky which queued the bustling of ball preparations. Furya watched the staff tread paths over one another, carrying utensils and decorations. Myra had shooed her away, insisting that her dress would be along shortly and when it was finished she would bring it to her chamber. Fury sighed, basking in the warmth of the sun. A shower and a new set of clothes had improved her sour mood.

She lightly traced the stinging brand on her wrist where Tallon had marked her. She looked like a collector of the damn things. Valerian, The prison world, Loki and now Tallon. All scarred her skin with their brand. And who were they to defile her skin? To bind themselves to her. Forever. Fools. They were goddamn fools. She'd peel off her skin if she could. She'd make sure no one would ever claim her again. They would learn to fear her. And to do it she would become as strong. She'd make them feel the pain of her teeth tearing flesh. She'd watch the life fade from their eyes on the end of her sword.

"Where have you been?", Sif eyed her with a disapproving scowl, her arms crossed over her chest. Fury flicked her eyes to her, not quite hearing what she had said before that. If she had said anything.

"That is for me to know", Fury hissed with a bitter smile and stepped into the golden hall. Magnificent arches made of the white flowers that bloomed wildly through the gardens were strung from the doorways. Intertwined with a golden ribbon that curled and wove between the blue thorns. Decorative yellow material was draped against the walls, lining the expansive hall in the bright colour.

"You would be the only one to follow Myra with such loyalty", The warrior goddess surveyed Fury just as Fandral came into sight beyond the catering staff.

"Now Sif. Be kind", He commented with a mouth full of grain speckled bread and nudged her shoulder lightly. She scoffed and walked away to the Buffett table that was being cautiously organised. Fury felt herself watch Sif with an automated piqued interest. What reason could she give that would warrant such viciousness toward Myra? What evidence could she provide?

Furya would be an absolute imbecile to trust that any Asgardian's friendship was true. Something was being put into motion. A plan. And she had no doubt Valerian was the architect behind it.

"It seems like you're avoiding me Furya", Fandral smiled a joking grin that coerced a small smile to bloom on her lips. His fearless words were never taken with offence. She felt herself one of the few that didn't take it with hard feelings. The Asgardian's didn't agree with it but he wore his heart on his sleeve and there was nothing wrong with that. He was different from the rest. Seemingly a different breed entirely.

Fury crossed her arms and spoke.

"Actively",

"My, you do have the knack for tearing one down", He dramatically held his chest as if he'd been shot. His golden hair shined beneath the sun, matching his brightly polished armour.

"It's a beloved pastime", Fury stepped past the catering crew, waiting for Fandral to follow her. He did. She stepped briskly to avoid whatever question lurked in his mind, but he gripped onto her arm when they were free of the hoards of Asgardians. Fury turned to the towering man. Concern sparked in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but rethought the decision.

"How are you?", He asked, lightly holding her shoulders. "I'm well", Fury responded with a false smile and an irritated tone.

"Furya, the last time Valerian was in Asgard he drove a knife through your back before you could blink. You are not...you should not be fine", He winced at the memory and released her. She was astonished by the sheer vulnerability within him. When he asked her if she were okay he truly wanted to know. He wanted to make sure she was.

"I'm surviving. Which is all I can do", Fury corrected herself, continuing her path through the palace. Fandral kept her pace.

"Good...good", He breathed out, tossing the hair from his eyes so effortlessly. "He'll not lay a hand on you", His jaw clenched at the thought. He was angry that Odin was allowing him back in. Outraged.

"I don't need protection from Valerian", Fury breathed out, stopping in her tracks. It was unsurprising to assume she did. He came close to claiming her life on their last meeting in Asgard.

"No, you don't. But that doesn't mean he won't try to harm you", Fandral justified, eyeing her tattooed arm that was bruised from the roughness of the Demon after her visit to his castle.

"He will try. And there is no one he won't harm in doing so...But I don't think that is why he's come back", Furya rounded a corner with Fandral on her tail and stopped. A thought popped into her mind.

"What do you mean?", He asked, his eyebrow raised in question.

"I need to see the bigger picture...I've been looking at it all wrong. It could be that I'm not even the pinnacle in his plan.", She speculated, rubbing her chin in thought. There were so many possibilities. So many things he could desire on Asgard. The eternal flame. The Tesseract. The Fel. The Ghoul even. She didn't know.

"We'll need constant eyes on him", Fandral concluded with crossed arms. "Maids. Kitchen staff. Anyone willing",

"No. Let him get what he wants.", She surprised him with her answer. "There will be no better satisfaction than stealing his victory after he's thought he's won"

* * *

Further, into the heart of the palace, Furya stalked through the shadows. Hugging the wall to keep herself from the eyes of the Asgardians. What she was trying to find she didn't know. She knew, however, that the vaults would hold some inkling of a clue in Valerian's plan. A few motions of her hands and the guards were asleep at their post. Slumped like dolls against the stone walls. She crept over them, presenting a stream of white from her palm and the reinforced door buckled beneath the iridescent power that rumbled from her being. A loud creak queued her victory and she stepped over the threshold. Leaving behind a trail of white electric particles in her wake.

"My, oh, my", She tsked with her hands on her hips. It was a room of grandeur. High ceilings encased in the finest metals hugged the cornices and spilt onto the walls. They illuminated the artefacts that sat upon golden pedestals. Runes and spells protected them from unwanted creatures. From her. Fury's hair tickled her neck as she turned toward an item that sang to her. Guiding her with its siren song.

The eternal flame sparked with light, drawing her closer to its deadly tendrils. Her chest fluttered with excitement at the artefact. _Steal it_. Her heart sang with a sinister grin. _Take it._

_Fire is yours. It belongs to you. Take it. _

The whispers taunted and begged desperately. And Furya. She wanted to take it.

_Take it!_

It would be hers. She wanted it. Why shouldn't she have it?

_Yes. Reach into the flame._

It licked at her skin. It caressed her in warmth. She was so close to the precious fire.

"What are you doing?", Loki smiled from beyond the flame. With his arms crossed at his chest, he prowled toward her. Revelling in the havoc at first but his steps quickened after a moment of realisation that saw Fury move closer to the flame. Her skin was bright with the flickering of the orange fire.

_Reach into the flame!_

"No no no", He tore her arm from the fire, holding her cheek in his other hand. She was entranced. Transfixed by the flame.

"Furya?", The smile diminished from his lips as her eyes reflected the orange tendrils. All she saw was fire. She craved the flame. And Loki was tearing her from it, the god who Fury glared at. Bitterness narrowed her eyes. To capture the flame she needed him dead.

"Come Furya", Loki hurriedly tore her from the vault. His ice-cold hand curled around her arms and the floor shifted beneath her feet before she could strike.

"Be free of your affliction, dear Furya",

That veil of immense darkness around her sight lifted. A cool breath filled her lungs and her mind settled. She hadn't realised the tightly grasped dagger at her side. Stolen from Loki's jacket. She winced as he snatched it back with a dull expression.

"Where am I?", She demanded, darting her eyes around the golden chamber that was triple the size of her own. Marble floors lined the golden tapestries.

"Just what were you doing breaking into the vault?", He ignored her, trapesing toward the king-sized chair that sat at the foot of the bed. His mood was...Well, something that was more than just a bad mood. And it resonated within her presence. She gulped at the aura of onyx that seeped from his veins.

"Is this Odin's room?", She observed the marvellous paintings on the ceiling, searching for an exit.

"Furya!", Loki growled and the floor rumbled beneath him. He turned on his heel and stalked back toward her. She gritted her teeth, sweat coating the back of her hand, watching his shadow reach her before he did. And she felt herself swallow back the fear that raised in her chest. "Why were you in the vault?", He asked in a calmer but threatening voice. She wasn't a child to be scolded.

"You see I was looking for the bathroom and I got lost", She sneered with a smirk. Loki grimaced in a manner that gripped her heart with fear as a shadow encased him in darkness. Something had indeed gone awry.

"Shit"

Tendrils of green magic erupted in a lux of light around her. It was too late to retreat from the beast that grinned as all light was sucked from the chamber. Furya swore, gasping as the cloud of darkness knocked her to the marble floor, ready to consume her. She slid her body away from it. Grunting while it pinned her down with invisible claws. They held her in place to behold its drool covered jaw. She gritted her teeth, tearing her face as far from its hot breath as she could. Though she didn't look, it was An unmistakable imitation of the ghoul. It made her core burn with fire. She loathed him for coaxing her to kill the demonic beast. Loathed that the scent of rosemary and lavender made her heart beat just that bit harder. That those glazed over eyes were closer to death than she had ever been. Despite it all she had never asked what that harvested skin was for that was strung on the Ghoul's table like fine china. Never dared to research the origin of the beast nor asked why it haunted the woods. Because she had mercilessly killed it without thought or reason. Giving it purpose wouldn't erase the memory of her blade slicing its leathery neck. Watching it's all to human-like body fall into the moat of horrors.

"Get off me!",

It was not that Loki didn't listen. His absent eyes were beyond the point of hearing her. A void of depthless rage consumed his green orbs. She gulped at the claws that tightened around her limbs. The eternal flame had infected him somehow. Corrupted him. No. no. It didn't hold such a power. His malice was not an infection but a curse. She had seen it before...in Vaniria. From Valerian's keep. A curse for two.

"Loki", She growled at the claws that were replaced by his own assaulting hands. A purposeful mistake that allowed her to dive into the depravity of his thoughts. He envisioned killing her torturously slow and agonisingly painful without laying a single hand upon her pale skin. And it sank into her. Loki absorbed the curse. He'd stripped it from her veins. Because Valerian wanted them to kill each other. If they destroyed one another then Valerian wouldn't have to. It was perfect. He knew she'd go into that vault. Fire was her crux. A crux he knew Loki would exploit.

She hated Valerian. Hated him with all she held dear. It boiled the blood in her veins that she couldn't combat his knowledge of dark magic. She had perfected her fire only to have it torn from her and replaced with this useless iridescent party trick. She wanted to explode. And what better moment to.

"Fuck it", Fury dove into the fibres of her power and set forth an eruption of white magic. Threads of pure iridescence attacked Loki's black-clad body in a vicious assault that flung him like a ragdoll. She acted fast, summoning the power that crawled up her arm, illuminating her tattoo in beautiful lines of brightness. "Ugh", She groaned with relief as his grip was torn off her body and sprung to her feet. Like a wildcat, she propelled her elbow backwards and clocked the creature that lurked behind her, connecting with his sternum. He grunted but danced to her assault, meeting her jaw with his fist. Back and forth his towering, lanky shadow struck. Fury stumbled backwards and flicked a tendril of power into the air. It encompassed Loki, meeting his face with a snarl. He deflected it and produced his dagger it a display of green light.

Before her eyes, he multiplied. One at first and then a dozen sprung to life. They threatened her with their daggers in hand and crept forward.

"What power do you hold against me, Monster?", That soft voice was tainted with rough and unforgiving malice. It scattered around the chamber in an ominous echo.

"Shit", Fury cursed, casting her awareness into the sweet magic tainted air. She searched the wildness of her mind for him. "Loki".

"What could you combat against iron chains and dark sorcery? Locked away in the depths of Vaniria, where no one would hear your pleas for mercy.", He continued with a maniacal grin. She shuddered against the thought, tracing the scars on her wrist that had been inked over with solid lines but still felt like damaged skin. Burned and blistered from rusted shackles in a band of torn skin. She would die before being captured in chains. Not again.

Dark magic. She almost laughed. What did he know of dark magic? Nothing.

She was married to it. Moulded by it. Tattooed with the scars from its unforgiving malice. But she survived. Branded by glossy marks on her skin and bitter memories from the crypt in Valerian's castle.

Surveying From a birds-eye view, she witnessed the darkness resonate behind her still and mindless form. It lingered at her back with Loki at the forefront. As if it were thinking. Watching.

Those eyes rose and locked onto her invisible magical trace on the ceiling and a smile curled at the edges of his mouth.

Suddenly she was forced back into her immortal form. She was still. Flinching at the hot breath that hung at her neck. Terrified that he would snap and jam a dagger through her spine.

"I promised you a slow and excruciating death.", His breath disturbed the hairs on her neck. His body was not touching her but she could almost feel the buckles on his chest sweeping against her back. "After taking everything I hold dear. I do recall.", She spoke without restraint, waiting for the moment he struck. A low and sinister chuckle met her ears. She wanted to slink away from it.

"I also recall a series of imperative moments between then and now. Personal growth and all. I'd even go as far to say I am your friend", She stalled, contemplating anything that would prolong her life.

"If only you knew", That merciless tone unsettled her. The sincerity of his statement. Her eyebrow cocked and she spoke.

"I see no gain in keeping secrets seeing as you plan to kill me either way", Loki breathed out a stream of air that shifted the silver strands of hair at her neck. Fury internally growled. Loki was stronger than any being she had ever encountered. There was no possibility this curse could contain him. She needed to lure him out. To carve a slice of strength from the veil of magic that surrounded them.

Loki tried to strike.

"Uh uh", Furya turned on her heel, a scowl painted her face. Glaring mercilessly while she snatched the tendril of emerald from his palm, absorbing it into her skin. She hesitated for a moment, watching it dive into her veins. He blinked at her, unsuspecting of her aggression.

"May I speak to Loki for just a moment?", She asked with little patience, crossing her arms over her chest. Loki clenched his jaw, giving her the answer she requested. No.

Fury huffed a sigh and uncrossed her arms, sweeping them past her thighs. "Fine",

Loki's eyes sparked, surveying as her hands conjured threads of luminescent magic like she was working a spinning wheel. Hundreds and hundreds of tendrils dove towards him. They wrapped around his limbs. Keeping him solidly in place. He growled, baring his teeth with rage.

"Be nice!", Fury snapped, circling his immobilised body. Her magic was strong when she was angry. More focused than usual and easier to manipulate.

"Since you don't want to release him. I guess I'll have to bring him to the surface.", She taunted, flicking the wild strands of raven hair from his face.

She thought of all the ways she could have invoked him. Frigga was her final desperate plea. She held his undying love and was the only one to do so. She'd transform herself into the departed queen. His beloved mother. It would hurt him and all the better he'd be rid of the curse...But he'd never truly forgive her for such a cruel trick. To conjure the woman who haunted him was indeed cruel. If perchance she could spare him from that then she'd risk having to battle him to destroy it. But she would at least try. If not Frigga then she'd have to suffice.

Her fingers rested on his cheek, sweeping past his bruised skin that enveloped her palm in icy coolness.

"I'm going to help you.", She assured, waiting for him to stop struggling against her. "Because I do think you are capable of more than just mischief...", Fury grunted as he butted his forehead toward her, narrowly missing her skull. She growled but regained her touch on his cheek. "That you are worthy of more than just stealing a throne of gold. You are...Misunderstood. Mistreated. Chaotic. But there is a lining between evil and bad. Bad is something you do well. But evil...I don't think you could attain it. There is something too pure. Too kind within you that can never be diminished. A fire within the darkness.", Furya gripped his shoulder tightly, watching her binds loosen but reproduce themselves against his rage. She smiled a taunting grin.

"Show me that it is worth wasting my time finding out ",

Loki growled, trying to lunge at her. Nothing. He hadn't bubbled to the surface as she'd hoped. Fury waved her arms with disbelief.

"C'mon! That was heartwarming", She breathed out, startling as the beast tore from his binds and nothing was separating them from tearing each other apart.

What was there to do? Her eyes darted around the room. Nothing. She couldn't think of a damn thing to combat him. No smart comment nor flawless manoeuvre to defeat him. She groaned at the prospect of combatting with fists and witchcraft. Furya was good but duelling amateur magic against the most notorious conjurer of tricks in all the realms was insanity. It was asking to die. She loosed a sigh.

"Fine, let's do it your way",

The cool metal of her sword jumped into her hand. Her palm curled around the hilt. It forced A sense of calm to wash over her as her lips wrinkled into a smirk and she swung toward the creature that combatted her with unmatched swiftness and strength. Her arms twitched from the recoil of his powerful deflections. But she was a predator unleashed. She bared her fangs at his stirring smirk which appeared between the sparks that flew off their blades. Flickering shards of power met and bounded off in luminescent green and white. He cast things around the room. Decoys and creatures that growled and clawed at her skin. But to live she couldn't take her eyes off him for a moment. Fury hissed and forced Loki back, stepping away from whatever thing had knicked her shoulder. Her arms weighed heavy, vibrating from the strength of him. He saw it and struck. She stumbled, narrowly deflecting his silver dagger that swept past her collar. Fury gulped, curling her hand around his wrist with any strength she possessed. She manoeuvred her blade to dislodge the dagger from his hand and drove her elbow into his jaw. Swift and mercilessly. Her sight was completely red. She was out for blood. Like a beast. Loki stumbled from her power. Anger resonated from his being and a low growl emitted from him. He attacked her. Striking her once with a shot of green mist that struck her leg. The magic faltered. Fizzling into nothing. A decoy. Shit. This was going to hurt.

"My Dear, Furya",

Inches from her face stood Loki who slipped his leg behind her ankle but drove her into the floor with a firm hold on her throat. Furya gasped as she met the marble. Halted by the air her lungs refused the receive. The stone floor spiderwebbed beneath her shoulder. A fractured line appeared amidst the perfectly polished stone, sprouting from beneath her shoulder blade. She imagined bigger, more devastating destruction lay with the section of the impact her body concealed. Breathlessly, she stared back at Loki who pinned her like a vulture holding down its prey. A wicked smile blessed his lips. He knew that Beneath him her shoulder pulsed in sharp beats of agony. Displaced and angular. That Inside she yelped and screamed from the aching burn but all that she could manage was a pained exhale of air between clenched teeth. Tears pricked her eyes. He saw it. He didn't care.

"Loki stop!", She commanded, her voice hoarse as his blade glimmered above her. She held her arm to protect her chest, separating them with a thin veil of magic. Loki stopped, his body was straddled between her legs that held him back. Her magic absorbed into his being, paralysing him. Fury raised herself when he was restrained. His black hair tickled her cheek as she lowered the blade in his hand. He let it go like a mindless creature. Yielding to her.

It was unbelievable, improbable that she had compelled him. It wasn't in her lineage to hold such a gift. To control someone was a trick in itself but to be able to manipulate thoughts and movements was exceptional. She felt his rage and helplessness, commanding yellow threads of light to extend off her fingertips into his chest. She soothed him. Her mouth opened in awe. Only then did she notice the Blood that dribbled down her lip from their fight. She wiped the substance away with the back of her hand. A groan escaped her. Her body ached as she flickered her eyes to meet the black orbs that replaced his emerald stare. She had bruised his eyebrow and bloodied her knuckles in doing so. But she didn't feel victorious. She felt remorse. That beautiful skin. She had defiled it with purple and blue hues. It hurt her to do so.

She couldn't do it again. She wouldn't.

Furya dropped her head in defeat and looked away from his dark orbs.

"Loki", Furya spoke softly, tracing his bruised skin with her fingertips. He flinched away from it. "I do believe we've come to an impasse",

"I will relish in torturing you so slowly, monster. Watching you splutter on your own blood as you realise that you should have never trusted-", Loki spat, not finishing his sentence to irritate her.

She watched his power cut through the binds of her white magic and worked quickly. "You should not have absorbed the curse wholly", Fury touched his leather-bound chest, extracting the blackness from his body in dark threads. She knew it would attach itself to her. The conduit of magic and magnet for evil.

Loki flailed against it and broke his arms free, driving his leather-bound forearm into her jaw. It stung. No. She almost had it. Fury buckled but held onto the stubborn magic that resisted to leave Loki's powerful form.

_Release him _

She demanded, her body quivering from the fight the darkness upheld. She was trying to destroy it. To incinerate its existence.

"Ugh", She hissed and ripped the writhing black tendrils free of Loki's body. Encasing it in white magic. It fought but didn't stand a chance against her rage. Furya's chest heaved with the effort it took to destroy the darkness. She felt the ground move beneath her. It wavered underneath her and forced her to reinforce her steadiness with her elbow. Suddenly a loud crack echoed throughout the chamber and the darkness shrivelled into nothingness. Like dust on the ground. It carried into the wind.

"Furya", Loki breathed in as if he had only just woken from a nightmare. Released from the prison that held him back. He stared down at the body beneath him. Terror filled his emerald orbs.

Fury laid herself against the cool marble floor. Her chest heaved with exhaustion as the magic faded within her skin. She needed a moment. Just a moment to rest. To clear the blood that now dribbled from her nose, intertwining with the blood on her lip in a single stream down her cheek. She watched the sun peer through the stained glass. It caused blurry splotches in her sight that seemed to fade like the ending credits of a movie.

"Furya", Loki heaved her off the ground, minding her severely fractured bones. Slinging her arm over his shoulder. He spoke a few well pronounce words and life coursed through her veins. Sparks ignited the beating of her heart, heightening the awareness of her mind. Like she had touched a live wire, she startled.

"Loki", She groaned, succumbing to the itch within her chest. She coughed. Spluttering crimson blood onto the marble floor. Loki winced and hauled her weight away from the mess. Threads of green wove around her. Sewing her back together. The heaviness that crushed her chest lifted and she could breathe again. Loki at the centre of the madness held her securely upright and swept the blood away from her lips. She fell into his leather-bound chest with a groan of relief. Wincing as her shoulder clicked into place.

"Why would you?-", He questioned, holding onto her waist. Perplex painted his bruised face. He was going to ask her why she had risked herself to save him.

"Because I like you. I thought I made that clear.", Fury breathed out, sending a white whisp of power towards the blue bruise on his brow. She stepped away from him. He was silent and calculated as he swept her back. The ground shook beneath him but she didn't. Not while his orbs surveyed her bloodied face.

"How did you avoid my blade?", Loki asked softly, eyeing the dagger that was discarded onto the floor. His chest rose and fell heavily. Fury's eyebrow lowered with thought.

"I asked you to stop and you did", She lied, examining the bruises on his pale face.

"No. You commanded me to...", Loki's eyes narrowed with contemplation as she directed wisps of magic toward the pulsing hues of blue and purple at his brow. " I felt the fear pulsing beneath you.", His cold hands lowered her fingers that healed his damaged skin. "I do apologise",

Maybe their link had offered the compulsion to them both. Whatever it was it scared her.

He had a habit of apologising to her. This villainous God of Mischief. It caused a shiver to crawl up her spine. She craved to hear to words.

"It was a Killing curse. Don't apologise", Fury smirked uncomfortably, wiping the blood off her cheek with the hem of her shirt. Perhaps he thought it was his fault. He apologised just in case it was. A prince beneath his mischief.

"I know. I felt it within you when you were lurking within the vaults", Loki's voice rumbled in his chest. A sinister smirk met his lips. "I wasn't stealing if that is what you're implying", She rolled her eyes, loathing the metallic taste of blood on her tongue. "Then what were you doing, dear Furya?", He asked with a tone the detested her law-abiding activity. "Keeping myself from trouble", Fury lied with a perfectly rehearsed smile. " How dull", Loki scowled with a childish demeanour. It coerced a smile to curl the wrinkles of her lips. She was up to a world of mischief. And he knew it.

"I did enjoy your speech", Loki bowed his head, clashing his sight with the floor. "It was truly convincing", He murmured. A childlike vulnerability sparked within his expression. He thought she had lied to save herself. That she hadn't sincerely thought him redeemable. Whether she did or did not. It shouldn't have wounded him. Not like it did.

Fury smirked, staring through the spotless window. "If its all the same to you, I meant it.", She breathed out, still holding the buckle at his chest. She fixed it and parted. "You're wasting your time trying to prove yourself worthy of Odin's approval. Perhaps...and this is a far off assumption. Perhaps Asgard is not worthy of your love for it", Fury spoke, overstepping her bounds. She flickered a glance to him and he was no longer staring at the marble floor but at her. Anger rose in his features.

"But...Seeing as it is not my place to say it. I may even allow whatever derogatory remark you are about to conjure.", She defused him softly, mentally rubbing her shoulder that still ached with slight pain.

"Stop it", He smiled, noting the perplexed expression on her face. " You're being kind. It is quite unsettling",

"Noted", She mimicked, eyeing the circular dent in the marble that shattered and splintered into a fractured singular line.

Loki, her protector and her friend. He who detested physical affection. He took her hand, tendrils of green urging her forward and he captured her into his chest. It caught the breath in her throat. His raven hair brushed past her cheek, tickling her neck.

"Oh My!", A scream filled the chamber. Both Loki and herself locked eyes before turning to Ayla who had dropped the clean sheets in her hand. "Fuck", Fury swore and swiftly jolted towards the retreating woman. "Ayla", She tried to calm the maid who took off in a sprint but only succeeded in colliding with the god of Mischief. He grabbed onto her with green tendrils of magic and dove into her mind. That harmless creature that held her tightly in the darkness dissipated into a fearsome God who could easily erase the mind of the Asgardian maid. Ayla softly clattered to the ground and Loki motioned for her to follow him out of the room. "Come Furya", She hesitated. "You won't be disappointed", He smiled and reached for her arm.

The glistening floor shifted into the black carpet of his gothic chamber. Fury hissed in agitation and ripped her arm from his grasp, cautiously surveying Loki sauntering toward the black dresser adjacent to his bed. He reefed open a drawer and searched within it, piquing her interest. She hovered next to his shoulder, peering to see what he wanted to find. After a moment he presented her with a small dagger. Dainty but sharp. She recalled the words she had spoken to Valerian.

_If I cannot stab you with it then assume I do not want any gift you provide!_

A smile forced a path to her lips as she took the black dagger from his grasp that was little more than a cheese knife. "A cursed blade", Loki spoke, shaking the blue vial of poison he had pocketed from the cult shop. "Try not to cut yourself", He commented, fiddling with the ring on his middle finger.

The gesture oozed warmth within her chest when it shouldn't have. He twisted the black metal ring from his skin and enveloped it in green magic. It jumped and writhed in his palm before popping out into the tiara she had stolen from the ghoul. That awful creature stirred venom within her chest.

"...At last a crown, dear Furya", He dipped his chin softly and placed the tiara upon her head. Resting it in her silver hair. Fury bowed her gaze with breathlessness and surveyed the man who plucked strands of hair from the tiara's path. It was lust in his eyes. A need for power that he surrendered to her. He was a crownless king.

She felt something rise within her chest like she stood on the face of a cliff. Ready to fall. The chaos and mayhem that were bound to his name seemed to drown out into whispers. Though he craved subjugation, he'd relinquish his ownership of the royal tiara to her for just the night. But how could she pretend to be a queen when he had wanted the throne of Asgard with all he had? He deserved the title much more than she. Ruling Vaniria was a vain aspiration that she hadn't wanted until she knew she had Valerian by the family jewels. She had revelled in the chaos that came from defying his barbaric rules. But now it tasted bitter on her tongue.

"Will I not see you tonight?", She asked as Loki's hand rested at her cheek and she melted into him. He looked surprised as if he was waiting for her to reveal some cruel joke. She leaned into his touch, absorbing the gentleness. Furya rustled a tiny string of white magic, casting her awareness into the air. It was warm and unfearing.

Hate for Valerian...For Asgardians had overtaken any emotion she felt. The numbness that she relied upon to erect the walls within her mind had made her cold. Even the prospect of feeling anything but hate made her realise how broken she truly was. But before her, Loki was undeniably and inexplicably transcendent. A God of Mischief indeed. Forbidden and beautiful.

"Not in this form", Loki spoke in an apologetic tone and breathed softly against her cheek, nudging her forehead with his own. She inhaled that scent of leather and parchment. Holding her breath at that emerald stare which was transfixed on her lips. He lured her closer and Fury became aware of every breath against her cheek, every movement, pressing herself into his body. She felt the numbness fade from her being.

"Furya!", Myra's voice tore the moment before the kiss away from them. Fury growled and softly butted her head against his chest. A chuckle escaped him, "Dear Furya, I immeasurably look forward to seeing you tonight", His voice rumbled through his chest. "Now go, ensure that gown will indeed make the assembly weep", She smiled, removing the tiara from her hair before she parted from him.

* * *

"Where were you? I've been waiting for ten minutes!", Myra joked while unzipping the dress bag that she had laid out on the bed. The black dress fell out in a smooth layer next to the small ball of Fel that slept peacefully. "What?", Furya gasped at the masterpiece that befell her eyes. If any dress were to make her weep it would be the one. She circled it, softly touching the satin of the skirt. It was mesmerising.

"Try it on", Myra ordered, shooing her towards the bathroom. Furya hissed with defiance but took the dress in with her.

After a few minutes of tugging and zipping, she remerged from the white bathroom. The black dress clung to her form like a second skin.

Myra's eyes lit up with a wide smile that made Furya feel uncomfortable to be its beholder. "Wow", Myra gasped, eyeing her tattoo-covered leg that emerged from the mid-rise slit in the skirt. The bodice was jet black leather with a buckle like texture as a contour that flawlessly swept into the black satin. Two straps swept past her collar into a halter neck style. Furya beheld her reflection in the tall mirror, taken aback by her muscular form that clung to the tight dress. She felt so exposed and vulnerable in the ensemble.

"You look astonishing", Myra rested her palm against Furya's shoulder with reassurance. "Now we've only got three hours until the ball and I've called in a crew", She whistled and a handful of people. Men and women strode into her chamber and started to set up tables and hair styling tools. Another table was set for makeup. Furya met Myra's brown eyes with fluttering anxiety in her chest. "Thank you", She spoke. Myra understood what the ball meant to her. She knew what Valerian was.

"Where do we start?", Furya eyed the crowd in her room, taking a seat in one of the plastic chairs.


	29. Desiderium

**Desiderium**

* * *

An ardent longing for something lost

* * *

"This is my best effort yet and what a struggle it was", Myra beheld Fury with a teasing smirk, emerging from the bathroom in her deep purple gown that was beaded with silver. It was much fluffier than Furya's black clinging dress but she looked sensational with her makeup in place and her hair in tighter curls than usual.

"Done", The makeup artist that swept powder over her cheeks spoke and stepped away from his masterpiece. Fury stood with numb legs and the lanky man tore her plastic shield off her chest. She tapped her heeled boots against the carpet to wake her numb limbs and slowly limped toward the mirror. Her silver locks were braided at her temple on each side and twisted into a single plait at the back. The rest of her hair was loosely curled to create waves of silver. Her electric eyes were encircled in black and shadowed at the lid with a dark grey shimmer that crawled into a touch of silver at the inside of her eyelid. Deep red colour painted her lips to finish her dark makeup. She looked undeniably lethal. A goddess of dreams disguised in a city of chaos. She scoffed. She was in place A goddess of fallacy. A looming shadow over Asgard that was not ready for war but expecting it.

"Give me a moment?", Furya asked Myra who had grabbed her small clutch and was ready to leave. " I'll see you down there?", Myra nodded and slipped from the room.

Fury dove into the top drawer of her dresser, retrieving her small dagger and tiara. She loosed a sigh and sheathed the weapon in her boot. Peaking out its dark hilt. She held that amethyst jewelled tiara in her palm and placed it lightly on her head. Thinking of the moment Loki leaned into her. Imagining the chaos that would have ensued. It made her mentally trace her rouge coloured lips, curling her fingers at her side. She buried it in her mind and observed the tiara. It matched the black necklace she had stolen from Valerian. A sigh escaped her and she murmured to herself, "You won't be broken again.",

Furya straightened her posture. Raising her shield of fearlessness that consumed her expression in a scowl. She repeated. "My name is Furya Diaval and I will be Unbreakable. Unfearing. Unforgiving."

Her eyes caught the reflection in the mirror. She had descended into madness. This facade was absolute trickery. Furya inhaled a short breath. She was panicking. Her fingers flexed at her side and her eyes tore off the lie in the mirror. "Unbreakable. Unfearing. Unforgiving."

It was time to go. There was no procrastinating. Fury checked herself over in the mirror and slipped from the room, almost directly into Thor.

"Fury!", He exclaimed in his thunderous voice. His blue eyes widened at her ensemble.

"Thor", She replied, eyeing his silver formal attire with a smile.

"Will you be my guard this evening?", Furya angrily strode past him.

"Fury", Thor grasped her tattooed arm and she spun to face him.

"Valerian impaled you last time he was in Asgard. You are fortunate that it is only me", Thor scolded with a frown and took her arm for them to walk into the celebration together. Like she was an insolent child.

"Noted", She hissed and begrudgingly stepped forward, down the stairs to the foyer. She observed his strong silence. He was still upset at her for staying. For facing Valerian. He had warned her to leave. Begged her to.

"I couldn't leave, Thor.", She breathed out, listening to the empty sound of her heels tapping against the hard floor. She saw his chest rise and then fall again.

"I know", He admitted, lowering his eyes to the glistening stone floor. Closer to the hall she could hear the sounds of celebration. Voices boomed and laughter echoed in deafening roars throughout the empty shell of the palace. It looked deserted.

"Then you'll understand why I can't enter the ball on your arm", Fury stopped him before they entered from behind the red curtain. His mouth opened to object but closed once more and those blue eyes darted to the curtain. Behind the thick material and down the butterfly steps Valerian would be waiting.

Furya bowed her head to Sif who appeared on Thor's other side in a deep red gown and ushered him behind the drapes. "Thank you", She breathed out, lightly touching her bare shoulder. Thor tossed her a glance before disappearing behind the sea of red. She smiled something weak and effortless that softened his glance. Waiting for them to leave before dropping her calm. Her heart beat quickly in her chest. She wanted to run. She couldn't breathe. There would be a hall of people watching her as soon as she hit those wooden steps. None worse than Valerian. She grimaced as the announcer introduce Thor and Sif into the celebration. Oh, no. They'd announce her arrival like she were the prize in freaking raffle and Valerian was the winner.

_Furya, You are a beacon of light, a catalyst of power burning so bright and ferociously. A curtain will not stand between you and your revenge._

Loki's soft voice echoed in her mind and her heart swelled into calmness. He absorbed her anxiousness and she felt his unsettlingly calm through the brand at her neck. She was diving further into shark-infested waters. Psychotic was a word for someone so calm at Valerian's darkness spreading over Asgard.

"Okay", Furya shook her hands and dislodged her feet from the floor. A shadow fell at her side. A handsome man dressed in a dark suit.

"Dastan", She smiled weakly and looped her arm through his own that was outstretched to her.

"Let's go, space ranger", He spoke softly with a silver-eyed stare and she put a foot forward. Space ranger was what he'd dubbed her when she became an intergalactic mercenary. The familiar name made her mind settle in the slightest.

"You shouldn't be here, Dastan", She spoke in a rougher voice. Surveying the dapper black suit that clung to him atop of a deep red undershirt.

"Neither should you", He rebutted, cocking an eyebrow at her dark attire., "Yet you seem to have made yourself at home",

"Dastan. I won't tell you again!", She hissed, stopping his step forward with her grip on his arm. He winced.

"Come home, Furya. Leave Valerian in the past. I have", Bitter words slipped off his tongue and his hand combed through the lines shave at his temple, flattening strands of dark brown hair.

"There is more to this than Valerian", She bit. He laughed in irritation and waved his hand to her collar. Pointing at Loki's brand.

"I see that",

"Dastan! Mind yourself. Being my friend doesn't mean you are free from my wrath", She scolded, raising her hand with a single warning.

"Where has this politeness stemmed from? It wasn't ingrained into your speech before you left.", Dastan came close to her face. He was hurt and he was right to be. His silver eyes locked onto the blood contract printed onto her collar. "I can't fucking believe you. You just can't keep clear of dark magic.", He bit his lip, thoughts swirled in his mind as that hand brushed through his hair in a swift swipe. He turned away from her, his tall shadow basking her in darkness. " What is the point in defeating him when there will be nothing left of you? Nothing that resembles a soul. Just another demon to replace him in that condemned castle.", He spat with venom. "And this", Dastan jabbed at Loki's sigil on her skin. "You are worse than Valerian",

He had barely spoken the words before her palm collided with the stubble on his cheek. Furya gripped his arm while his body jolted from the strength behind her slap. "Are you done?", She asked without care for the red welt upon his jaw. "I expected a closed fist", He retorted, rubbing the handprint on his face. "Priorities", She motioned to the red curtain. Dastan flashed a wide smile. She laughed and embraced him deeply. "I've missed you", she spoke into his suit jacket, craning her neck to avoid smearing her red lipstick. "I understand why", He quipped, parting from her. She glanced to the welt on his cheek and summoned a single thread of magic in her palm, manipulating it to calm the red skin. Dastan eyed the white magic with raised brows, raising his hand to touch the less painful welt.

"Good as new", She commended and looped her arm in his own, ushering him to the red curtain.

Through the crimson material and at the nadir of the stairs hundreds of Asgardians bustled around the hall. A spotlight shone upon Dastan and herself as they stepped onto the platform. A spectacle was made of them. White eyeballs sparkled at her and Dastan. At the forefront of the hoard, a set of demonic black and orange orbs seethed. He was a jackal, luring her, powerless and small, into his trap. Her power was no comfort. She forgot she had any underneath Valerian's crooked smile. Dastan pressed his hand into the small of her back. It kept her from floating away. From turning back.

_Astonishingly pulchritudinous_

Loki's voice formed a smile on her lips. An out of place and seemingly random grin. But she didn't mind. Not when Valerian watched her descend the stairs.

_I never did find a dictionary for that word_

She responded, watching the small steps she took down the staircase, reaching the first landing.

_It means beautiful. Breathtaking_

She smiled, halting at the landing, gripping onto Dastan's arm.

_Now, Furya. You must promise me something._

_What?_

_Smile_

"Furya Diaval. Queen of Vaniria. Escorted by Dastan Rayne.", The announcer's voice queued an on slaw of questionable glances. Then whispers shared between Asgardians commenced. Some louder than others. "Queen of Vaniria?", was the main subject. Or "Vaniria has no Queen", from the more bitter Vanir who eyed her like a pile of rotting trash on the ground. It was kinder than the glares shot toward Valerian. Dastan turned his head but kept his expression vacant. Queen of Vaniria. She almost laughed. It was without a doubt the finest ploy of Loki's conjuring.

Furya nodded goodbye to Dastan who veered off into the crowd of Asgardians and she was left to face Valerian alone. At the base of the steps, he waited in his dark suit that held a singular chain swinging from the chest. It was a black and red ensemble that clashed with her own. To say he was pissed was too kind. If looks could kill she'd be crushed into dust. She smiled at Loki's petty stunt and took Valerian's extended hand that lured her from the staircase. His shoulders squared at her. The guards raised their weapons in a purposefully loud clang. "Uh uh", Furya tsked with a wide smile. Her fearless facade rose to the surface in place of her immense fear of the man. "Welcome, Valerian Diaval. I do hope you enjoy your stay", She teased the tan-skinned beast who bared his white teeth at her comment. His eyes roamed the tattoos that enveloped her body. Thoughts ticked in his depraved mind. "Queen of Vaniria?", He bit with a humourless smile, grasping her hand just that bit harder. Orange orbs settled on her tiara and that anger seethed from his skin. But he released her and she strode past him, her hand quivering.

"Fury", Fandral beckoned her to his side. Valerian's orange eyes followed her sweeping walk. "Fandral", She replied with the smallest sense of calm, a smile crawled on her lips at the beautifully crafted attire that clung to him in shades of dark red and grey. "Breathe. You are doing incredibly. Queen of Vaniria", He complimented in a smaller voice than before. His eyes clashed with the demon who burned holes into her back. Sif glared back to Valerian, nodding her head in a fashion as if to ask him 'What do you want?'

"...I'll handle him", Fury warned with a soft smile. Her eyes searched through the crowd, hoping to meet Dastan's soft silver eyes. "I'll find you two later", She sighed and moved further into the hall. She crept past the dancing couples who laughed and span on the polished floors. Envious of the carefree nature of their flirtatious behaviour. She stepped forward, nudging people from her path. Where was Dastan? She longed to spot his dark brown hair among the dancing couples. After a while she did. He was dancing with a brown-haired woman. Her eyes squinted at the lady in the blue dress. It was Ayla. She breathed out a relieved sigh.

"Just where did you find him?", Valerian's voice made the hair stand on her neck and the muscles tense in her arms. She made eye contact with the guard on her left who stepped toward them, motioning him to stand down. "The same place I left him", She smiled and turned to sight those orange orbs. She silenced his thought.

"Was he supposed to rattle me?", Valerian smiled that cruel grin that shook her core. His pointed teeth glimmered under the crystal chandelier. "No, My dear sweet idiotic Husband. I am", Fury growled and stepped away from him. He roughly grabbed her arm, violently spinning her into his chest. His hand pried at the markings on her collar and those orange orbs widened with shock. "Get your hands off of me", She warned once, taking note of the approaching guards. He didn't.

"Valerian", Odin warned with a husky voice from his throne and the beast released her. "My apologies", He smiled an idiotic smile and disappeared into the crowd. His tall form vanished amidst the dancing couples and congregating groups of people who watched but didn't join in.

"Shit", Fury exhaled, lightly touching Loki's brand at her collar. Her fingers trembled. When a waiter offered her a glass of something gold a sparkling she didn't hesitate in swallowing it in a single gulp. Impressed or disgusted. She didn't know from his expression that appeared only for a second before sinking back to a professional smile. She handed him back the empty glass and stepped out of the gathering. Away from the deafening loudness and unbearably miserable vultures that lurked around the dance floor. Though the Asgardians were more regal in stature they were no better than humans. No more refined.

Fury glanced up to the stars that sparkled in the night sky from the balcony that overlooked the manicured gardens. And beyond it, the dark forest. She loosed a sigh, resting her arms on the stone balustrade. A shadow settled on her side. She spoke

"Sif. I must ask something of you. Something I can never repay",

* * *

"You are making a fool of yourself!", Loki scolded Valerian, not waiting for the demon to register why he was summoned to the library. He winced at the approach of the God who bound him in a dark cloud of magic. "Do you truly think anyone believes that Odin would allow someone who threatens their enemy within the earshot of all of Asgard to remain in his realm?!", Loki growled. Valerian bared his teeth. "Answer me!", Loki curled his hand at Valerian's throat, enough to see the fear within his eyes. Then he tossed him to the floor.

"I. Don't. Care", Valerian huffed, straightening his attire. He lifted himself and flicked the dark hair from his eyes.

"No. Because you are a worthless Demon.", Loki spat, calming the rage that bubbled to the surface. He looked into the fireplace to the flame that died from neglect, thinking of Furya. That filth had laid hands upon her in front of a city of Asgardians. He would be expected to do something about it. He didn't want to add to the murmurings about Odin's competency. That damned demon wasn't helping his case. Anger rose in his chest, he tapped his fingers on the mantle to calm himself.

"I think she's corrupted you. Oh great Loki", Valerian taunted, a grin in place of that childish scowl. Loki snapped his sight on the Demon. How easy it would be to snap his bones into powder. But he smiled. "I thought it beyond you to think at all", Loki spoke, eyeing the miserable beast that approached him.

"You break a blood oath. You die", Valerian warned with a shit-eating grin. "No. no. no. You do not threaten me Demon. It is quite the latter", Loki spoke in a voice that was more growl than tone. "She was smart to bind herself to you. Her Godly shield.", Valerian spat with a growing smile, "While you cannot die, I will kill her in a way that will make you wish you could. Because you cannot leave until she is dead and take it from me, she can endure unimaginable pain. It won't be a quick and merciful death. Each scream. Each howl of pain will remind you that it is your doing. You killed her long before I did.", His cruel smile was unflinching. Loki gritted his teeth, scowling the beast that taunted him. "She does remind you of your dearly departed Mother, Frigga was it? Never cared much for either",

Loki revelled in meeting his fist with Valerian's smirk. "Dare curse me again I will break more than your jaw", Loki reeled back his bloodied fist that ached from the impact. The creature groaned but cracked his jaw back into place with little more than a curse. "You don't know what she is. What lies of innocence she feeds you!", Valerian crashed open the doors of the library, striding out of Loki's rage-filled bubble.

Loki watched the beast leave, resting his chin onto his closed fist with thought. His breathing was rapid against it, thinking of all the ways Furya would revel in killing him. Magic sewed the graze on his knuckles that dripped crimson onto the mahogany mantel. His chest constricted like he couldn't breathe. Anxious in the wake of her distrust.

He growled, sweeping his arm across the mantle. Emerald eyes watched the silver trinkets and heavy books clatter to the stone floor. If ever there was a time for regret it was now. Curse his chaotic behaviour. The pitfall of his existence. That godforsaken oath held him to his word. To deliver Furya to the Wildmen, to Valerian's trap. An unimaginable death would welcome him if he failed. Not even he could intercept the binds of a blood contract. He had tried before. Valerian, though as brutish as a rabid wolf was no fool with magic. He might even go as far as to call him gifted in the craft. His contracts were broken under pain of death.

This was not the first blood contract he had entered. If every creature had branded him like Furya did his skin would appear like a tapestry. Though he grew rather fond of the black ink against his pale skin, alight with her blue flame. He grimaced, tracing the bumping lines on his cold skin. Only she would dare to trick him. That slippery minx. She didn't understand that ruling Asgard had consumed him for over a thousand years of his existence. It had tormented him. And Odin, that fool, had deemed him unworthy. He had hidden the fact that Loki was a monster. He dangled a dream in front of him to only snatch it away. He was A frost giant. A beast. Loki could only laugh. Such a thing might've turned him completely insane. And it had. To Furya's misfortune.

Loki had bartered a price for the silver-haired woman. Selling her like a fine piece of material at the marketplace. Valerian was only too eager to agree to an oath. The price was Higher than anything Loki had expected. It seemed like a steal. A problem would be gone for priceless power. A power he much enjoyed using to shield his natural form from Asgardians as he roamed the grounds. It felt like being invisible. It was something he valued greatly after imposing as Odin. It served its purpose as any high priced item should. But for it, he had offered his soul. His student and friend. Maybe it was that Valerian knew what would become of Loki by doing so. That by offering him the magic at a bargain price Valerian would wound two for the price of one. Loki planned to kill him as soon as his oath was fulfilled and throw his limp body to Fenrir to feast upon. Save Furya doing the same to him by silencing Valerian before he could speak. He could lead her astray in the meantime. But to what end?

* * *

Furya distanced herself from the celebration, opting for the peace the garden's provided. Beautiful fairy lights guided her way through the cobblestone path. To the heart of the maze where wild purple flowers bloomed no matter how many times they were cut or poisoned. She smiled.

"Queen of Vaniria. I would very much like a word with you", A Vanir male approached Fury under the cover of night. His hair was grey but peppered with dark sprouts. She had seen him at the front of the crowd in the hall. His scowl was unforgettable. Though his voice was calm and friendly his stance told her otherwise. She reached for the blade at her calf, contemplating how to attack the short but muscular Vanir. Perhaps this was the shit-storm she was expecting that night.

"Yet. I do not want to talk to you at all", She bit with a smirk, her heart pounding in her chest. The male's face contorted into anger and he grabbed at her arm.

"I wouldn't", Valerian's orange orbs glowed to life beyond the hedges. Fury's eyes darted to where he leaned with his ankles crossed and arms by his side. That chain on his chest rattling in the wind. The Vanir growled, lowering his hand. But they were not alone in the darkness. A dozen Vanir burst from the shadows. Their faces grim and their eyes seeking blood.

Furya beheld them. They circled Valerian and herself into a trap of epic proportions, brandishing swords and mean guns. Her eyes flickered to Valerian who eyed her with the same questioning glare. Her shoulders shrugged. That bastard had gotten her into this mess by stealing the star of Vanaheim and laying claim to their lands. Those old enough to remember would place her at the forefront of the madness.

"Truce?", She bit through her teeth. Clashing with Valerian's Orange orbs. He nodded slowly, taking in the abundance of Vanir that emerged to watch them die.

"You two destroyed our home. You defiled our land with dark magic!", The grey-haired man justified in a cold voice that was loud enough for the assembly to hear.

"And you think you can kill us through the strength of arms?", Furya spoke with a shit-eating grin that she'd learned from the demon. Valerian's eyebrow raised at her question. His tanned skin glistened beneath the garden lights as his black hair dipped. He was content with saying nothing. He'd rather kill them then receive their judgement.

"You think the beings who stole your land and derived its magic can be destroyed with swords and guns?", She laughed a low maniacal chuckle. Her eyes flickered between the Vanir. They'd scattered themselves. Smart. All they had was strength in numbers. Vanir beings old and young. Each with the same scowling expression. Each wanting nothing more than to destroy Valerian and herself. They didn't fear her as they should. They were proud people and she respected that but to threaten her was to sign their death warrant. She flickered her eyes to Valerian, the air around his stand-offish stance was thick with power and laced with the promise of killing the Vanir. She recalled the stories of how he laid claim to Vaniria. His father's court enslaved its people to serve him eternally. But it was Valerian who Forced them to mine the precious ore that pulsed through the veins of Vanaheim until he had the heart. The star that was the source of magic upon the realm. And when it was done. When he had promised to free them. He massacred the slaves to avoid an uprising of Vanir. He slew every single one of them. It waged a war that lasted a decade. But Furya, she tried to help those who remained. Some Vanir left with an inkling of magic escaped to the outskirts of Vanaheim. She held open the prison gates that lead to the Faerie river. And the punishment for doing so was watching them all die a death worse than the rest. More cruel and depraved. She could still hear the five tongued whip reel back and for a moment they were free of pain until Valerian swung its fiery teeth into their flesh and the screaming took hold of her. But it wasn't the slaves he was whipping. No. The slaves were long since dead, burn and defiled when Valerian bound her wrists to that decrepit alter.

"Valerian", Furya called the demon to her side, her hand quivering from the memory. He approached her with crossed arms. His tan skin glistened under the glow of the fairy lights and for a moment she forgot all he had done, transfixed by his beauty that was carved with scars and tattoos. Those pointed teeth bared as he spoke. "What?", He asked with an irritable tone. "You're fortunate I value my life or else I'd throw you to these people and watch as they peeled the skin from your flesh. You're even luckier that I despise being threatened", Furya commented loudly, summoning the iridescent magic that swirled in patterns up her arm. They would never know what she had done and she would spare no breath telling them. To the Vanir she was the wife of Valerian the Overlord. One who housed the power of their beloved star. A part of the Diaval court.

"Bye Bye now", Furya smiled a sorrowful grin, slamming her closed fist into the cobblestone. A cloud of sparkling mist swept through the garden, consuming the Vanir in its rage. One by one it dissolved them into its veil of magic. Pulsing in bright electrical sparks that illuminated the garden. Valerian flinched beside her. His arm's folded at his chest. Those orange orbs beheld her power with lust.

"They'll be waiting for you when you get home... I hope they burn you alive.", Furya growled and flattened the stray hair that had come loose in her sight and sashayed away from the demon. He was powerful against the Vanir but their numbers would destroy him.

"Still bitter about me burning your friends?", That son of a bitch smiled as he said it. She felt herself become undone. Untameable at the words. Valerian's hot breath hit her cheek. "Or that you paid for your indiscretion?",

Pain seared down her spine. A reminder of the bloodied mess that had scarred her body in thick bands which were now swirled in black ink. She shuddered. Half her body she had jammed needles of ink, salt and ash into to cover the markings from his foul temper. Scarred From her neck to her toes. He always favoured her left. The side she failed to protect.

"Tell me, Valerian, what is the true reason you seem to despise Asgard? Was it that someone wouldn't satiate your desire? Loki does fit the profile. Beautiful, seemingly young but evidently not that way inclined.", Fury bit, close to the demon's face. He twitched. His pointed teeth baring at her. "I know. what. you. are. Dear husband", She smiled a fanged grin and slipped away into the darkness. He came from a court as old as the sturdy Willows that fluttered along the entrance of Vaniria. Even as a demon bi-sexuality or homosexuality was a sin enforced with the cruellest death. For overlord's needed children. Heirs to their claimed territory. If any of his court survived, they would be intrigued to know. He'd be flayed like the disgusting creature he was.

He didn't follow. She was Free of him for the moment.

* * *

"Did you see the lights in the garden?", A dark-haired woman gossiped to her boisterous friend, both of whom wore the most fluffy of dresses with the lowest neckline she had seen in a while. Fury couldn't help but intervene. "I heard it was the Ghoul from the Woods. The witchly woman comes out a night, seeking an Asgardian to snack on. Some say they've heard her claws tapping outside their room within the palace ...others have not been fortunate enough to tell the tale. You see, When she gets you she disappears in a display of white magic and her victims are never seen again.", Fury teased in a low, menacing tone. The women looked between each other with wide eyes then back to the balcony. A low chuckle escaped her throat as she slipped from their sight.

"That was cruel", Fandral's voice pierced the deafening chatter around her, finding her in the crowd of people that started to sit at the lines of tables for the magnificent dinner they were to have. She swept her sight to Odin who was seated at the head of the more regal table that withheld Kings, Queens and rulers from the nine realms. Towards the end of the table sat the Gods of Asgard. Enchantress, Heimdall, Thunderstrike, Hermod, Balder, Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun, Ulik and Thor. Fury took note of Enchantress' scandalously tight emerald gown that shimmered beneath the lights. She sent her a snarling stare from beside Heimdall.

"Furya", Odin motioned to the empty seat to his left. She groaned internally at the staring eyes that sunk onto her as she took her seat. The rumour that she was Whore to the Asgardian royalty seemed to fuel itself. Fury cleared her throat, clashing eyes with Loki's disguise.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Furya?", He asked in time with the waiter that set down a glass of bubbling yellow liquid. She picked it up by the stem and downed it in a single swig. "Immensely". Odin's mouth curled in a smile at her uncouth behaviour.

"Behave, wife", Valerian snatched the glass from her fingers, handing it back to the sharply dressed waiter. A growl settled deep in her throat as he sank next to her, His arm draped over her shoulder in a possessive act.

"I will break more than just your arm", She turned into him with a snarl, matching that orange-eyed stare. His fingers gingerly caressed the skin of her bicep. Screams echoed through her mind. Pained and pleading. "Help me, Furya", Valerian's voice begged even though the demon at her side remained speechless. She tore his hand off her skin, narrowing her sight to his orange eyes that had black where white should have been. He didn't show any discomfort. It had to be some sort of trick. She was staring at him. He smiled.

"Just what is going through that mischievous mind, my precious little bat?", Valerian spoke, resting his arm against the headrest of her chair. He hadn't called her that since they were first betrothed. Her eyebrows furrowed, still staring at the demon. He was too close. Acting too friendly. The demon who could have been used as a battering ram beheld her. His orange orbs roaming the black dress she had stolen from him. A wicked smile met his lips. Valerian leaned close to her, whispering in her ear. "Longing for what you had?", He spoke just loud enough to hear, his eyes moved off her and flickered to Odin behind her. Valerian slumped his elbows onto his lap, just tall enough to reach her ear. "There are other ways to welcome me into Asgard",

He knew. That bastard knew that Loki was sitting to her right. Not Odin.

Furya turned from him with a dismissive snarl. "Why would I risk the displeasure?",

Valerian smirked, still much too close. "I still have that small moan before you climaxed locked into my memories", Furya stiffened, she hated him. Hated that he spoke purposefully loud enough for Loki to hear. A cockfight. Fantastic.

"I don't recall", Furya breathed out, clashing eyes with Fandral across the table. His face was soft with sympathy. Now that was a memorable lover. She smirked. What was a Demon compared to a God? Absolutely pathetic. "Shall I remind you?", His low voice sent a chill down her spine. "What's to remember?", She hissed, slapping his hand away from her body. He laughed, low and sinister. "You'll see",

" Are you two done?", Furya breathed out, looking between Odin and Valerian. "I am not a goddamn prize to be won", She hissed.

"If she were, you would not be in the running", Dastan's voice lingered at her shoulder, his silver-eyed gaze onto Valerian was deadly. Pointed teeth replaced his once white veneers.

"Dastan", Valerian gripped the back of her chair tighter, taking a flute of champagne with the other. " I believe you are seated with the other riff-raff", He commented, downing the entire glass effortlessly. "Fury, a word", Dastan growled through his teeth, taking her hand before she could object.

"Dastan", She grunted, almost torn from her chair. "What is it?", Fury asked, stopping in her tracks as she passed Myra and a smaller, less intimidating clone of the woman. Her blue eyes settled on the child's brown hair that hung in beautiful ringlets. A light blue dress was fitted to her small body. The skirt sprung into a fluffy display that shimmered beneath the chandelier.

"And who is this?", Fury asked Myra, pulling Dastan back to her side. The child stared at her with brown eyes that glimmered with excitement from the brilliant celebration. "This", Myra started, pulling the kid onto her lap in a swift motion, "Is my daughter, Ava",

"Since when?", Fury asked with intrigue, sensing Dastan's irritable sigh. "Since eight years ago", Myra smiled, leaning closer to Ava. "This is Fury",

Ava's eyes grew wider at Fury's fanged smile. Her tiny hands reached for the skirt of her satin dress. "Queen of Vanirian", Ava spoke, softly touching the black material at Fury's waist. "Vaniria", Myra corrected. It didn't matter to Fury. " Bumpy", Fury almost startled out of her skin as Ava pressed her fingers into her tattooed arm. " Ava, enough", Myra warned, bowing her head with an apology. "Go find your dad", Myra shooed the little girl towards one of the guards who swept her into his arms. "I see you've been seated with your husband", Myra observed, her sights settling on Dastan. Combatting his silver-eyed glare. "Don't tell me this is another spouse you've squirrelled away", She teased, nudging Fury's shoulder. "No. Only the one", Fury breathed out and Myra's smile faded. "If he touches you, know that I have an impeccable aim, even with a butter knife. Perhaps even a dessert spoon", She added. Fury laughed, succumbing to the waiters that ushered everyone back to their seats.

"Find me later, in the foyer", She called to Dastan and stalked back to her miserable place next to Valerian. The God's of Asgard emanated a dark cloud of misery and rage. She flickered a glance to their table, remembering Karnilla's limp corpse splayed on the stone floor. They were a queen down and her killer was rewarded with being allowed into Asgard. It was barbaric. It was cruel.

Valerian's hand was curled around the flute of another glass. Those orange eyes gazed upon her. "Just what did the demon want?", He asked, downing the last of his drink. "Mind your business", She bit, grateful for the rouge arm of the chair that divided them. Valerian placed the glass on the table. Circling the rim with his finger. He slinked closer to her. "I did enjoy fucking him. The way he struggled against me was euphoric. No one. Not even you fought me that hard", The words curled the fingers at her side. "Behave, Husband, you're embarrassing yourself", Fury met the rim of his glass that hummed beneath his fingers. She imagined it becoming alive with fire, melting the prints off his fingers. Valerian growled at her but it was overshadowed by the shattering of glass.

Dinner was served. She ate the exquisite roast beef paired with potatoes and rich gravy. She dug into the pink gelato that came in round glass bowls and she left without a single murmur to Valerian.

—-

* * *

Beyond the seating arrangements and through the vastness of the palace corridors. Dastan found Furya by the hulking iron furnace at the heart of the Foyer. It's orange glow lit the side of her face in warmth. She looked into the dying flames, kindling the fire with a string of white magic. Her face was distant. Thoughtful. Contemplative. She acknowledged him with the dip of her waved silver hair.

"Dastan", Furya murmured, turning from the warmth to see his silver eyes.

"What did he do?", Dastan asked with a low growling tone, softling curling his fingers around her arms. His eyes expanded at her uneasy expression. He pulled her into his chest. The closest replacement for a mother, a sister he had. As she turned into him she felt the butt of the gun strapped at his ribs. Her eyes flickered to the black alloy.

"This revenge is killing you", His voice rumbled in his chest, soft and vulnerable. Furya twirled away from him, staring back into the flame that reminded her of the Vanir that Valerian bound and set alight like witches. Smiling wider at their agonised screams... every time her teeth chattered from the sickening and violent lashes of pain. Every time she felt like she'd pass out from the sear of the whip. Furya spoke,

"You want me to forget Valerian? But how do I forget every scar, every lash of his whip? How do I forget the faces of the Vanir he set alight and smiled as the screams became deafening and then they were nothing. This revenge isn't my own. It's on behalf of the beings that came and went in Vaniria, Each with less of themselves than they began with...for you", Dastan hung his head, breathing out a soft puff of air. He watched her lips as they started to move. "You may be able to forget Dastan. But you were in Vaniria a mere blink of my fifty years. You were a demon in a court of demons. I was nothing. I was nothing to Valerian. A mere abomination...You cannot comprehend-",

Dastan silenced her without saying a single word.

"Furya, I've seen what lays beneath those tattoos...I know. I know what he did to you. But if he kills you. What will it be worth?",

"It will be worth everything", She hissed, nearing close to his face. "I didn't endure all of this.", Fury motioned to the scars underneath her tattooed arm. "I didn't go to prison for 15 years to die and I refuse to...If I fail I'm taking Valerian down to hell with me.",

Dastan's silver orbs settled on her tattoo at her collar, peeking through the halter straps of her extravagant gown.

"Who did you bargain with?", He spoke in a hushed voice, his head raising in a soft gesture. Fury avoided that gaze at any cost. Her jaw tightened.

"The God of Mischief", She confessed, curling her fingers one by one at her sides. The soft material of her dress swept past her skin. It was as cold as Dastan's disapproval. He stepped away from her like she was a monster underneath his bed. It made her heart sink in her chest. She didn't care for the opinion of anyone but Dastan...his disappointment killed her.

"Jesus Fucking Christ, Furya!", She watched his hands run through his cropped hair and those incredible silver eyes clashed onto hers. "You swore a blood oath to Loki?", His voice cracked despite the obvious effort it took not to. He turned from her, pacing a small section of tile. "At what cost?",

Fury closed her eyes and inhaled the warm air from the furnace. "The heart of Vanaheim",

Frustration pained his face and empty gestures started to motion from his limbs but stopped. "For what?!",

"A sliver of Loki's magic", She raised her hands to calm him but he was beyond that. "Valerian is going to kill you", He chuckled a low and pained laugh. "Dastan. I'm well protected." Fury assured. "By who, Loki?! The dead prince. I'm sure he'll do a stand-up job against Valerian", Dastan exclaimed, stalking back toward her. His voice echoed around the empty foyer. "He's not dead", she folded her arms and met his outraged stare. "Fuck, Furya. Are you serious? He's almost as bad as Valerian", He yelled, not caring for any listening ears. "Dastan, trust that I've considered every option. Every plan. In no way could Loki ever betray me as Valerian did", Fury silenced him with her glare, her voice unwavering.

"...okay", Dastan repositioned himself, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. "Where do we start?", He spoke.

"I sense Valerian's presence looming. You start by allowing me to send him back to hell", Furya stepped past him, shooing him away from her. Her boots tapped rhythmically as she entered the balcony and the moonlight basked upon her.

It was silent. Unnervingly so at the darkness that expanded around her. She loosed a sigh from her lips, readjusting the silver tiara in her hair. The night truly gripped her without the reassurance that Loki could interject at any trouble. But he had other priorities. He had the wellbeing of Asgard to account for. With Valerian on the prowl, it was a job that required his undivided attention.

Fury dismissed that longing in her heart, sweeping the silver hair from her sight. It was for the better that he wasn't there. She didn't want to let him see the monster that erupted when Valerian provoked her.

Below her sight lovers giggled in hushed tones, creeping beneath the cover of the palace. They were wrapped in each other. Carefree and Inseparable. She watched with a knowing smile. Those fools didn't know what was going to hit them. The innocent stolen kisses reminded her that she had fallen in love with a creature that was anything but innocent. A demon. And now, more than two hundred years later there was nothing she regretted more. Not only did he escape death. She was still bound to his name. Diaval. Furya Diaval, wife of Valerian, queen of nothing.

_Furya_

That alluring accent sprung to life in her mind. Queuing the smirk on her red lips. Her tattoo tingled with green luminescence beneath the unforgiving blackness of night.

_I'm here_

She replied with a forced sincerity.

_What happened in the garden?_

_How did you know about that?_

_A servant commended the immaculate light show that swept through the courtyard._

Furya breathed out without reply, tapping her fingers at her the cement rail that separated her from a long drop. He had painted a target on her back when he had deceptively announced her as the Queen of Vaniria.

A glowing green outline appeared before he did and it wasn't long before those emerald orbs crashed on her lonesome figure. Fury grasped his hand and showed him what had transpired. Leaving out her own miserable fate at Valerian's hand. He was silent. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again.

"You should have let me know", His arms crossed over his gold plated jacket that made him seem much taller than he was.

"You knew he was here", She hissed with bitterness, gripping the railing in her anger. She didn't know why Loki had welcomed Valerian into Asgard. She didn't understand. She couldn't.

"Furya", Loki met her eyes with a look she had never seen from him. Soft hands curled tighter around her wrists. One abandoned course and rested on her chin, nudging her gaze upward into his orbs that became a depth of green electricity. " If he even dares to breathe to your dislike. Expel him from Asgard", Loki's rough voice lowered, "You remember how don't you?",

Fury nodded slowly, taking in the fear that arose from behind his wall of sinister smirks and sarcasm. He had indeed taught her that neat little trick she used to send the Vanir away. She remembered it well. it was raining that day in the woods and she wasn't successful in any attempts to cast away Loki all day. He was frustrated and short-fused by the end. Fury herself was no happier, not when he muttered a backhanded comment. She was so mad she cast him into the body of water that bordered Asgard. He had saved himself but nothing was sweeter than seeing him absolutely drenched and deathly livid.

"If not I can cast him into the water", Fury provoked a beautiful smile followed by a weak chuckle.

"Do what you must", Loki bowed his head and then he was gone.

* * *

"Poor, Furya. Left outside by herself.", Valerian's rough voice taunted, startling Fury who span to meet the creature that crossed his arms over his chest.

"In case no one had told you today. Fuck off, Valerian", She bit back, mirroring his stance from the balcony of the palace hall.

"My wife. So feisty.", He swaggered towards her and suddenly the celebration behind him died completely. The lights that beamed upon her skin were taken. And she was alone with the beast.

"There will be no repentance once I have you Furya. Just you and me for all eternity.", The demon snarled and she crept away from his touch. The darkness took her sight but she lifted the veil between magic and reality. And she caught that hand that swung towards her, engulfing it in ice. Valerian hissed in agony. His glowing outline seethed red.

"Do your worst", Fury spit with the venomous rage that encased her heart. She grabbed his jaw and her crimson fingernails extended into metallic claws, drawing blood from his skin. Those orange eyes smiled on their own. Though his face was void of emotion. She ran her sharp nail down to his throat, drawing a thin line of blood. "How easy it would be to end you right here", Her metal pointed claw tapped tauntingly at his jugular vein and she felt the beast gulp. It was euphoric. "But as for me. I am a lady. I wouldn't kill you today of all days. Not on your Birthday", Fury released him, turning on her heel with a victorious smile.

"Always so disgusted by demons and Vampires yet what are you? What abomination have you become just to defeat me?", Valerian spat with a voice as soft as silk. Lust lingered in his orange orbs, swatting away the black blood that dribbled to his collar. Like a predator.

"My dear, Valerian. I'm a motherfucking monster.", She smiled a smile so unsettling that Valerian himself flinched, stepping away from her. "I do hope you've enjoyed yourself", Furya spoke and cast the beast back to Vanaheim. Back to those angry Vanir. As soon as he was gone the smile vanished from her lips and bile rose in her throat. Her hands quivered at her side.

Those metal talons sank back into mortal red painted nails, diving beneath her skin. She had wanted to tear out his throat with them and watch him choke on the blood. Of all things, her new trick was sprouting claws. She groaned and rebuilt the veil of the magical world, stepping through it, into the celebration that glimmered with blinding lights and deafening song.

* * *

Beneath the blue light of the chandelier, Furya sauntered through the crowd. Thor could only watch the inexplicably beautiful woman. Words seemed to surpass his mind as those blue orbs pulsed onto his own. The black gown clung to her in a tasteful manner that had drained his mouth of saliva. His chest rose at her magnificence. For a moment the deafening loudness ceased and it was just Fury in the hall with her heeled boots tapping softly against the stone. Her silver hair swayed over her shoulder as she dropped her glance.

"Care to dance?", Her long red-tipped fingers extended and grasped his hand, leading him towards the dance floor. Her nails swept against his skin, sending chills through his spine. She turned to him, assaulting him with her floral scent of rose oil.

"Lead the way", Fury snapped his thought clear and he slid his hand to her waist as the dance became slow. She slung her arms over his neck abruptly to match the swaying couples that mindlessly stepped around them with no real rhythm. They just swayed.

The lights dimmed and he followed the steps of the dance which was just a slow-paced movement that required no real skill. With her pressed against his chest, he wanted nothing more but to kiss her crimson painted lips. Yet he could not find the strength to do it. So he swayed with her. Smiling at the youthful mischief that sparked in her eye towards those who stumbled. And before he knew it the song had ended.

"Shit", Furya hissed, her hands swept past her silver crown of hair. "Weren't you wearing a crown?", Thor observed with narrowed eyes. Furya tore herself away from him, rushing from the dancefloor with unmatched speed. "Fury?", He called, chasing after the woman who bounded down the courtyard steps toward the gardens. Her black dress caught the wind and majestically swept behind her.

* * *

Fury's blue eyes glanced over the cobblestone where she had slammed her fist into the earth. It had to be here. She could even comprehend what Valerian would do with the tiara. What she'd do to him for stealing it. She was sprinting now. Her boots thumping against the path. Thor was not far behind her.

Her chest heaved as her legs halted in place, eyeing the silver glint of metal. She approached the concrete bench at the heart of the garden. Her crown lay upon it.

"What?", She breathed out. Was it a trap?

"Fury?", Thor caught up to her as she palmed the tiara, her hand rested on her knife.

"Crisis averted" Fury chuckled, burying the metal crown into her hair. Thor smiled that charming smile he did and grasped her hand.

"You know that tiara was my mother's", His voice rumbled through the open seating area. The small abundance of lights flickered around them. Strewn over the branches in decorative patterns. It was breathtaking.

"My apologies", She cringed at her wreckless loss of the precious item.

"No. I think it suits", He matched her blue eyes, pressing his chest against her own. He tucked a strand of silver hair behind her ear and leaned closer to her lips. Watching them part with each word she spoke.

"Then why did you hide it, Loki?", His eyebrow raised at the oddity of her speech. "What...wh...what do you mean?", He stammered, raising his stance.

"I bit you", She gingerly touched the base of his neck. "Right here. Yet Loki has the scar. I find that quite strange don't you?", Furya crossed her arms, wondering what explanation he could give her. Thor smiled a weak grin that was overcome with a flash of green and Loki stood before her. Dressed in a simple black suit with matching undershirt. It was tight against him. She noticed the mass he had gained from portraying Thor in the fitted suit. Their vigorous training sessions over the months had expanded his muscle almost twofold.

"Surprise", He spoke weakly, crossing his arms.

"You Mischievous little cretin", She hissed, gripping onto the material of his shirt at his chest. He turned his face from her rage, awaiting it. She rethought her initial revenge of punting her fist into his jaw. Though she was pissed. She was betrayed and she was tired. Fury conjured the power within her core, enveloping her arm in white light. Her chest ached with agonising rage that rattled her rib cage. Loki's viridian gaze widened as her magic exploded in a fit of white and she became a glowing beacon of pure magic.

"Furya", He warned in a low tone, still in her tight grasp. His tone was calm at first and his hand cupped her cheek like he was shaking her awake. No matter what he did. She didn't forgive him. The God of Lies and Deceit. What did she expect?

Fury gritted her teeth with anger and summoned the ground beneath him to turn to water. "No. Furya. You wouldn't", He chuckled with a glimmer of fear, eyeing the portal to a long drop beneath him. "Therein lies our crisis", She smiled and released her grip on his suit jacket. He growled as he descended into the body of water. It was followed by a splash. Furya smiled, stepping toward the dark forest. Flicking the tiara on her head to the cobblestone ground. It bounced then settled by the hedges.

"Queen of Vaniria", She chuckles with darkness in her heart, venturing further into the night.

The next chapter will contain an abundance of smut. You've been warned. I plan to upload it soon once perfected. Enjoy.


	30. Disenthrall

**Disenthrall **

_To set free_

* * *

The dark forest, a place where no mortal or God should have lingered, was thick with the promise of snow in the breeze. Beyond the thick clusters of trees and dead leaves, Fury lingered, treading through the moist ground that was as slick as a sheet of ice. Her bare shoulders resented the flakes of ice descending from the sky. Shaking them off with distaste. At least it wasn't raining.

She waited for Loki, arms crossed at her buckled bodice. It was absolutely freezing. He had better hurry or she'd leave before she froze. Furya breathed out a visible puff of air into the night, watching it rise. It entrapped the clear flakes of ice from the sky in a layer of fog.

Snow. She huffed. She hadn't seen snow in a century before coming to Asgard. A century.

Vanaheim had once harboured inescapable whiteouts. It had sealed Valerian and herself within the black castle for a few days one violent winter. They found other things to do. Fury visibly shuddered at the memory. Hoping that Dastan would fare better with the conquest she saw him sneaking off with into the kitchen staff's quarters.

"Mischief", Her voice drawled, sensing his presence before his tall and slender body befell her eyes. She turned on her heel, speaking into the wind. "Enjoy your swim?", her eyes squinted through the shadows. But he didn't speak. His eyes were locked onto the bustling of creatures from the thick shrubbery. She felt daft for forgetting no benevolent creature would ever exist in the enchanted forest. But what was it? Another inexplicably sinister monster perhaps. She squared her shoulders, sweeping her blue eyes into the distance. The loud rustling grew closer. Luring her into danger. She was curious more than afraid.

"It was quite cold", Loki's voice spoke softly in her ear, clamping a hand over her mouth to not alert the creature to her presence. His soaked raven hair brushed her face. Followed by the wet sleeve that draped over her waist. It ushered her backwards, away from the beast beyond the foliage. Fury shivered, tearing his hand away from her red lips. Why was he running?

"What is it?", Furya hissed in a low tone, turning into his water-drenched chest. His viridian eyes spiked with fear as he explained. "No creature bearing goodwill lingers in the dark forest", He turned her shoulders back to observe the beast that crept from the darkness. Fury sucked in a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. That night was supposed to be fight free. A simple day was all she asked. She huffed, stiffening as a patch of dark fur came into light. Followed by glowing green eyes that watched her from the shadows. Loki abruptly shielded her in manner selfless and brave, pushing himself before the beast that snarled with drool covered teeth. "What is it?!", She hissed, louder this time. With enough volume to catch the beast's eye. He ordered her to run. And To keep running.

A loud scoff signified that fierce defiance within her. She didn't need a hero. And that's exactly what she told him as she swept past his form. Eyeing the Panther-like creature with a displeased examination. It's iris' were an aperture of flaming peridot lined with a solid ring of purple. Beside the violet iris, it's pupil dilated so wide it voided the eye of colour. Fury cocked her neck as it glanced to Loki with a deep guttural growl. Slender fingers grabbed her waist. Her arm. Anything he could grip onto.

But the titan sized panther didn't launch itself at her. No. He bowed his head to her like an old friend and bounded into the woods. The knife in her palm left her hand at just the opportune moment.

The slender cat was swift but not fast enough to dodge her cursed blade that nicked the beast's shadow covered neck. She wasn't sure she hit anything until a soft groan met her ears. Followed by a soft metallic drop. The thick frost would have silenced it completely to her mortal hearing. The towering creature hesitated but continued fleeing at the brisk noise of her feet chasing it down.

"Furya", Loki warned, appearing at her side as she knelt to retrieve the metallic medallion the beast had stopped for. Her fingers wiped the grime off its face. An insignia peeked from the gunk. But what was it? Waves like a fire painted the face. Then symbols, etchings she didn't know.

"A spy", her voice droned from her throat in a guttural hiss. Monotonic and mean. Of Who? Valerian? A beast willing to venture through the dark forest was desperate or stupid. Under Valerian's rule, she couldn't cross either out.

"You hit it", Loki pointed to the green splatter on the snow, trailing further through the forest. "If I miss. I die", The words escaped her without thought. A phrase common to her a few months ago now seemed so foreign. Loki was silent for a moment. He forgot what she was. More often than not. A hunter. Sometimes a killer. That's what she'd been. Trading lives for means to live. But he didn't know. Not what she'd kept forgotten beneath her mind of steel.

Magical beings were her speciality. She'd hunted Loki's kind from the rich smell of their power alone. She'd wanted to do the same to him. To Frigga. In any other realm, she would have been spat at and barred from their establishments. Her and Dastan had worn out any welcome on too many planets. She'd gained too many enemies of many means. It was a dangerous time to be a Witch Hunter. But Asgard was old and unmoving with the modernity of its neighbouring planets. She was thankful for that.

The longer she carefully examined the God the more she began to realise that his expression wasn't even about her. It was Contemplative. His face riddled with guilt. She watched him straighten his posture with a cool demeanour, straightening his wet coat. But his eyes delved beyond the forest. Into the heart of Wildmen country.

"What?", She asked with a warning. Not sure she was ready for anymore of his surprises. Though the darkness shielded him his pale face couldn't be protected from her sight. "You have one chance to tell me", Furya wasn't lying when she said it. If he was in bed with Valerian or anyone else she needed to know now. "Loki!", Her booming voice ricocheted off the dense trees, startling him with the slightest fear. Perhaps she was wrong to back away like he were a rabid beast. She wasn't sure it was a lie. "You're working with Valerian aren't you..." Fury concluded. Her heart void of friendship and compassion for him. Loki snapped his sight toward her and the guilt grew twofold. "No",

She didn't believe him. "Then what?", She asked, palming that small knife she had strapped to her thigh. Her footsteps stopped, halted by the green mist that spawned Loki's breath at her neck. "When you cross the border between Asgard and Wildmen territory there is no magic. It is stripped completely.", his voice spoke in a soft tone. The spy would die from its cursed wound when it crossed that border. No magic could shield it.

Furya breathed a forceful laugh from her nose. Her head shook in disbelief, freeing herself from the deceptive God. She was an absolute joke to him. An insult on his prim and proper society. The fool he sent into the woods to be eaten by the panthers. And if she died then who would miss her? No one.

Words could never portray her devastation. The agony of never truly being wanted. She would always be a vampire half-breed. Nothing would ever change. A demon Goddess. Well, that was simply laughable. Fury looked evil as hell itself. Why disappoint?

Fury flattened the satin material at her thigh. White fangs draped over the corners of her red painted lips. An unnerving smile pressed forcefully upon them. Unceasing as the snow fluttered from the sky crusted over with frost. Falling down like deathly sharp icicles. Loki deflected them like she was an ant trying to hurt him. "You cannot impale me", He stated with a stale disinterest.

"No",

That knife in her palm jittered with impatience. She needed answers and she'd get them. Forcefully or no. It was his choice.

"Why waste your time training me in sorcery and witchcraft for it to be rendered useless In the end?", Fury asked her voice as stern as steel.

He was still behind her. His cool breath bouncing off her shoulder. It drew deeper as she turned on her heel and he couldn't hide from her wrath.

"Why bind yourself to me?", Loki retorted. It made Furya grit her teeth together. "So this is petty revenge for a trick of words and paper? For the contract?", She growled, crossing her arms over her chest.

His eyes were hollow and glassy as he asked, "How? how did you defile an unbreakable contract?", Furya cocked her head. Was he listening to her at all?

"Magic within a blood contract is as old as time itself. It is ancient and evil. To take from it you must give in return...An eye for an eye.", Fury smiled, letting her arms loll at her side. "Or an inexplicably dark power for half of your own,",

She had known the game and to survive she would've dragged him six feet below. While he may have been an all-powerful God. She was the wife of pure evil. The mistress of the devil. Darkness was her domain. And contracts were goddamned child's play.

Loki was surprisingly calm, he seemed to admire her ruthlessness. That smile burst through his scowl, scaring away his terrifying expression that promised a slow and agonising death. "And I only strengthened you with immortality", He observed, trying so very valiantly to suppress the bewilderment that befell him. She was meant to fall into his trap. To be intoxicated by his brilliance. She wasn't supposed to challenge him and he loathed that she did. He didn't revel in the taste of being made a fool. He did love the trickery, however.

"You're quite terrifying", Loki bowed his head with defeat. But Furya didn't forget so easily what he'd told her.

"Why, Loki?, Why train me in a power useless against the Wildmen?",

"Because I wanted It to destroy you",

It left her speechless. The ease that he said it. Furya embraced a wordless gape. It had destroyed her. In every way possible. This immortal vessel. It had left her weeping into the luscious carpet of Asgard or wailing for death to take her as her bones cracked out of place and then in again. It was agony. It was the price she had unknowingly paid.

"I hate you", She hissed, watching him flinch at the words. He stepped back but she curled her hand around his soaking wet sleeve, falling into step. His emerald eyes clashed into hers with darkness. She couldn't comprehend the wickedness that dwelled within him. His need to hurt her. But perhaps that was what he saw when he glared back into her luminous blue eyes. The eyes of a demon. A vampire. A wicked beast.

They had hurt each other well and so easily. Their relationship was toxic and sick. It was so unbelievably weird.

"I hate you", She growled, gripping the solid bone of his wrist. Loki's eyes softened, opening his mouth to speak. "Then let go",

Let go of him. Of their odd friendship. Of the brand.

"No", Furya drawled viciously and he stopped fighting against her. Shocked and slightly confused, slinking out of her grasp with a strong tug. He spoke. "Then I will give you a reason to",

Magic ignited the forest in a Viridian cloud, sweeping throughout the woods like a rolling fog. Fury was just quick enough to meet the creature that spawned from behind her formally dressed figure. She clashed her knife with a beast that made her core spring to life with flame. Valerian. Dozens upon dozens of clones of the demon sprung from the forest floor like flowers blooming to life. She froze. Turning to the God that summoned them.

What was he doing? Fury tugged on the tendrils of power that intertwined them and she felt nothing. Shit. Was he truly trying to kill her? Here and now?

He had let her be impaled before. Perhaps it was opportune to get her alone. To gain her trust. She was a fool. A goddamned fool. He'd distracted her with shiny jewels and powerful magic to come through on his promise. An agonising and intimate death.

Sweat clung the satin material of her dress to her hips in rolling beads. She thought she had read Loki. She felt his warming heart. She goddamn thawed it out for months. Fury dive beneath the veil of magic. Into that unbreakable bond. Only to bounce off the shield erected within his mind and his heart. "Shit", her heart erupted into a loud thrum that forced a wicked smile upon his lips. And she couldn't think or move. She was paralysed by it. The fear that blushed her cheeks a magnificent shade of red. Suddenly the snow seemed to singe her skin and she wasn't shivering. The frost became a sauna for her death. "Indeed", Loki purred, falling behind a shield of illusions bearing Valerian's likeness.

Run. Her consciousness screamed. Retreating in that weak stuttering human-vampire that Valerian had first met. 'My precious little bat, What have you done?', That voice stung her ears.

No, he wouldn't see her tears. She wasn't afraid of him. Not anymore. She was strong and unyielding. Fury sniffled away the redness of her face and gathered the magic in the outline of her tattoo, summoning it forward with little grace or dignity. She knew better than to wrestle with magic when her anger became too much to bear. The consequence would be dire. But that fantastic ability within her veins, it burst through her like a fucking beacon. Aflame and deadly.

Loki, like a puppet master watching his prized dolls burn. His eyes widened. Opening wider than she had ever seen. With an impossible amount of awe as she burned through the flock. Burning them into embers. Leaving but one. Fury opened her mouth, flicking her wrist in the same motion.

"Here's to us", She wasn't sure she had even said the words from the heat that fogged her senses in rage. The forest was a black outline, dancing in her white light. It was entrancing and spectacular.

Valerian, the illusion, leapt to his feet. His chain at his chest rattling through the harsh wind. But the beast didn't attack. No. He was a minion of her control. She could feel herself unlinking Loki's binds. And yet the spellbound Valerian acted out his own will. A memory within her mind that triggered at those haunting words he'd muttered. She had forgotten much over 300 years but those words were something she'd never be able to erase.

Fury begged it to end. To disappear from her sight.

But no matter how she pleaded the memory burst into a live theatre before Loki's awe. Fury screamed for it to stop but it only made Valerian's form corporeal at her feet. Springing an image of herself to life. Younger. Less scarred.

"Shit", Furya hissed, flexing her hand toward Valerian in a final attempt to destroy it. She couldn't. Loki's power was fuelled by control in emotion. And control was not what she had on it. The magic rejected her, zapping her skin as she reached to erase it.

Loki surveyed the unfolding theatrics before him with crossed arms. Eyeing Furya in a younger state. Her hands were bound together and knotted to a wooden altar anchored into stone.

"Enough", She breathed out, bowing her head to the snow. It hurt. It physically hurt her like she was the one being bound. A gasp escaped her at the red wound that itched her wrist like she were a voodoo doll to her former self. "No", She growled. This couldn't be the price for a flame that had once been hers.

"Furya", Loki's facade faded. "You must let it take what is owed", His eyes dipped to the snow. She remembered what he had told her 'Magic does not take or give. To take from it more than you are owed would mean dire consequence',

_Leave. Leave me_

Fury ground out. Her dress strangled her in heavy beads of sweat. The black material combatted the satin shirt she had worn in the ruins behind Vaniria. The place no one would hear a single scream. She swallowed hard. Her knees were bruised from the spiderwebbed stone beneath them. Her thick breaches torn and bloodied. And that face. It was so scared. So tainted with thick blue bruises and peeling wounds.

She felt them. She felt every one. Every breath and each step that distanced Valerian from the bareness of her spine. Flinching as he tore the material away from her skin with his sword, taking no care in missing the flesh beneath it.

Valerian held that five tongued whip in his palm, each might as well have been set alight. She was on her knees, quivering against her restraint. Against any sound that he made. She pleaded for Valerian, her husband, to stop. To reconsider. It was all she heard until that leather whip reeled back.

Her eyes closed before the tongues licked her spine in a vicious line of blood and welts. She had screamed then but not now. Even as a hot line sizzled her shoulder.

Loki seemed to sink with her into the snow. "How many?", He asked softly but she didn't reply. Knowing 100 more were to come. "Go", She hissed but he didn't. He stayed at her hip, keeping her upright.

"Count out 100 lashings. Aloud, Furya!", Valerian smiled with that blood-splattered whip at his control. Loki's breath hitched in his throat.

"One for every Vanir that tried to sneak past our arms. Out behind the lake. Rest assured Furya, they didn't get far. The children were much too slow for Halien.",

101 was the death toll that day. 101 lines scared into her skin. One hundred Vanir prisoners.

When Valerian raised that whip once more Loki clamped onto her hand. One. Fury gritted her teeth. Two. Three. Four. She howled like an injured beast in the night. It seared her skin like a knife being run up and down her spine. Dug in harder and harder. Blood poured a hot and sticky stream into the white snow, melting it to the leaves beneath.

Another and another searing her, numbing her shoulder in a fiery sting. She wanted to weep to scream as her lungs begged her to. But she locked her sight onto that silver-haired girl counting each flay, her throat hoarse from screaming. She wept and begged to that beast in a way Fury could never. So she sealed her mouth with gritted teeth. Writhing beneath the pinch of leather.

"I...died", Fury spat between lash 30 and 31. Loki, who muttered words and spells beneath his breath glanced to her tear-filled eyes. Flinching as the whip flung back and she growled. Her limbs shaking. She didn't want him to witness this...She didn't want anyone to. "Loki", She pressed her lips together to suppress her agonised wail. Water rimmed her eyes as she sunk her gaze into the floor of frost that fell in endless drops.

"I'm...", Fury started, absorbing the agonising lick of the whip. "I'm not a", She buckled, her lips trembling. "Protector...between realms". The confession poured from her like the river of blood that pooled in the snow. She wasn't watching Valerian's ghost but Loki was. He was watching her young body reel back and writhe. Hearing her howls into the dead night. His eyes were rimmed with malice and his hands coated a stream of her fresh blood that slipped off her waist and onto the ground. "Furya", He calmed her, clashing with her eyes. "Witch Hunter", She ground out between number 66 and 67. Resting her eyes for just a small moment.

* * *

Louder and louder her shaking voice had counted with each flogging until her tone was but a whimper. Her left shoulder was torn apart like a wolf had sunken its claws into her skin. A mess of blood, bone and sinew. With each whipping, her body sank lower toward to ground until her forehead was buried into the snow. Loki's hands gripped her sweat-drenched arms. Shuddering with each flay that splattered the white icy floor in red.

Magic the colour of a candied apple swirled around her torso in a spiral. Waiting. Just waiting until that small voice called out 100 flays. But she felt herself fading long before then. He would've whipped her dead body had she not held out. He'd have waited for her to heal and then done it again. Blood coated her in more hue than her skin. Raging in stinging pools. By number 80 he was whipping through bone on her shoulder and spine. Cutting through her breaches with longer strokes just to create a new mess wounds he could see.

"Furya", Loki, softly curled his hand at her waist and shoulder. Knelt in the frost she jolted in an agonising manner. Hearing his voice so far in the distance. She shifted her head on the icy floor, clashing with those emerald eyes under the moonlight. He was blurred with tears. She blinked. Drained and weak. No more. No more.

"How did he save you?", Loki's expression was grim. His hope of healing her in time fading.

_The Spring Equinox_

Loki hesitated. And she knew. She knew that there was no hope. No magical day to draw power from. Nothing. The equinox on Asgard would not appear for a month at least. In the realms, it was a day where light and dark are equal. Life and death are as one. And magic, to those who hold it pulses like wildfire through the veins of the realm. Life is eternal. You cannot die on such a day.

_Get Dastan away from Asgard. Far away. _

Furya groaned at the consistent pain the spiked at one particular place on her spine. Her mind fogged and she closed her eyes for a moment or two. She needed to sleep. To sleep for a week or a month.

_Furya_

_"_101",

Fury crashed flat onto the sunken earth on the last flay of the whip. Tears stung her eyes and her knees quivered at the agonising slices in the bodice of her dress. Blood was sticky at her knees in a shallow pool. She vomited a vile stream of crimson in disgust. But there was little more she could do before the darkness took her.

Green light was all she saw chase away the black dots that encompassed her in death. She felt it's cruel pulled luring her into a realm of ghosts and monsters. She wanted to go.

"Valerian", She whimpered to the fresh shaven boy that ushered her toward a blinding pulse of ethereal light. She wasn't afraid. "Come with me", his young voice called to her. Distant in range. Barely loud enough to hear. The words flipped the whole world upon her and she growled. Loud enough for the undead to hear.

"No",

"Furya", Loki's soft voice erupted into her mind. It was silent at first but ever-growing. He found her within that miserable afterlife and snatched her back by the shoulder. He was a tall shadow in that realm. But she knew it was him. She knew that voice. It was shaken and loud as his green magic forced the blackness from her sight.

* * *

A breath. Freezing cold and painful as hell expelled from her chest. And Fury could open her eyes long enough to see the remnants of glassy tears within a sea of Viridian haze. Loki held her against the wetness of his chest. Strung over his knees like a corpse. And defeat plagued him. She could feel it pulsing from him in agonising beats. His white skin was bloodied in smears. Some fresher than others.

"Leave me", She wheezed weakly, laying because she had no other choice. She couldn't move. From pain or fear. She didn't know.

"No", Loki sniffled, wincing at the copious blood that splattered the snow in crimson. His magic roamed her sweat-drenched body. Sewing the whipped mess on her back and arms.

He had conjured her nightmare. She couldn't forgive him for that.

The cold frost kissed the wound shut and allowed her limbs free from paralysis. She removed herself from him swiftly, pushing his chest away with her palm. Though her limbs could move her sight erupted in black swirls and blurry blobs.

"I'm sorry", It was soft. Barely audible amidst the chirping bugs and the pounding in her ears.

"Shut up", Fury hissed, holding her skull like it would explode.

Ugh. All she could taste was the bitterness of vomit and blood against her tongue. It was disgusting. Fury spat the remaining crimson liquid from her mouth and like Loki could feel her ill-ease he conjured a pitcher of water. Holding it to her to take. She downed the liquid in a swift second, noting the minty aftertaste. She shivered. It wasn't water. It tasted like a tingly mouthwash. An elixir that replenished the strength within her bones.

"How?", She asked, shivering in the damn near-freezing weather. She didn't need to say any more. He understood the question.

"You are bound to me Furya. Wherever you go. I am never far", Loki explained, having grabbed her from that ungodly place and run. She nodded slowly. Had he not been a large factor in her death she might have been touched. Been thankful. She settled on solemn silence while Loki's magic examined her bloodied form and swept away the evidence of her altercation.

* * *

After 10 minutes Loki spoke, guessing correctly that her mood wouldn't fade. He took the pitcher from her hand, tossing it onto the snow-frosted soil. His face was devoid of malicious intent as he breathed out a sigh, staring into the vastness of the woods then dropping his sight onto her battered body. His shoulders slumped in defeat as he murmured, "Why won't you run from me?",

Furya pitied the man who had always thought himself undeserving. But it didn't soothe the hurt he had invoked. "Why do you want me to?", she bit, slowly standing with the support of the whispy willow that marked the heart of the woods. "I don't...", Loki confessed, hounding her steps. He had been willing to wait until she could move fluidly enough to make it to the palace. Waiting for her foul scowl to settle.

Fury sighed a deeply frustrated and rage motivated sigh. He was infuriating. It's why she didn't allow him any closer than an arm's length, holding her palm against his chest to distance herself from his usual unsolicited closeness. "Then what do you want?", She asked but didn't particularly care.

Loki drew a deep breath, knowing his answer could forge an empire or tear it down. He thought carefully about the words that defended him. "It hardly matters-

"Why not?", Furya examined him, flattening her palm onto the threads of his dark shirt. She tapped his chest twice with her index knuckle before she spoke. "Is it because you got what you dreamt of only to find it wasn't truly what you wanted in the end?",

"Something like that", He affirmed. She'd never seen someone so powerful be so very miserable. So alone. If that was the price to be the God of Mischief then she didn't want the title. She wasn't sure he did either.

He was fearful of his own destructive affinity. That innate ability he had to reign terror and chaos was incurable. He knew it. The longer she bore his brand the more she knew it too.

"What is the point in being the most powerful sorcerer between the nine realms when you are alone and hated?",

"Dear Fury. You do forget that I am the Villain", Loki interjected, raising his brow.

"I would rather live a mortal life. A boring life", Fury breathed out. A mortal life. How pathetic.

And was it a lie? That was for her to decide because there was one thing worse than being hated. Being weak. And to Gods humans were nothing but ants. Ants with a strong bite but in the end, they were small and powerless.

"No, you wouldn't", Loki laughed, looking her up and down. "You revel in chaos much too passionately. What would you be without electric eyes and hair the colour of pearl? Without lies and fights with Asgardian's?", He chuckled, breaking through her barrier between them. Fury dropped her arm to her side, knocking her shoulder against the moist bark of the willow tree. "You are far too nefarious for any mortal life", Loki smiled, leaning dangerously close with that dazzling smile. She huffed a soft puff of air. "How many mortals could say they've knocked the God of Mischief on his ass?". Fury teased, sweeping her eyes to meet the green light that shined underneath a ray of moonlight. Snow began to gather at her heels. Only an inch if that. It blanketed the forest in white. "Very few", He taunted in a voice like silk that melted her frostbitten core. His hands swept past her waist, unfearing of any recompense. Furya stroked his cheek with her thumb and index finger. Allowing her red nails to softly scrape past his lips that glowed beneath the moonlight.

In many ways he was perfectly suited to her but there was a glimmer of doubt within the back of her mind that shunned him away. Fury breathed out a frost coated breath, overriding the small but persistent feeling that scraped at her brain. The tension between them was nothing new. But her ability to ward him off was washing away. How long could she when they were bound by magic? When she longed to hear that low and teasing accent. When she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Loki pressed her into his chest that rippled with lean muscle, sweeping away the stray hair that clung to her face. In a move that made her stomach flutter.

"My dear Furya...", He breathed hot air against her cheek. Words failed whatever it was he meant to say. But she felt something she could only describe as warmth beating beneath his skin, racing faster than the rapidness of his pulse. It enveloped her. Furya held her finger over his lips to silence him. Clashing with green eyes.

_Inexplicably Pulchritudinous_

Loki lowered her hand from his lips. His soft smile capturing her wholly. Magic curled around them in tendrils, wringing out the water from his suit. She felt it wick away from her hands at his chest. When it was gone nothing could stand in his way. Like she was a light in the darkness he pulled her closer. She moulded into his tall form, breathing in the scent of parchment and leather that bound itself to him. He held her like she'd shatter into a million pieces if he didn't. Protective and guilt-ridden as his fingers swept over the torn leather at her shoulder.

* * *

"This is not how I envisioned tonight proceeding", Loki breathed out, tracing the red stain at Furya's shoulder. He recalled that bloodcurdling scream before that memory had replayed itself before him. He couldn't stop it. Not as the tasselled leather licked her skin with crimson welts.

Loki couldn't help but blame himself for the blood that had appeared on her godly form. He hadn't intended to hurt her. Hadn't anticipated what horrors would unfold.

"Oh?", Fury enquired, fiddling with the button on his shirt. "Did you expect this night to be an exception to our chaotic schedule? " She flattened her hand on his sternum. Dazzling him with her fanged smile that emerged under red lips. Loki frowned, examining her exquisite ball gown crafted from pure midnight. Perhaps he had hoped for a moment alone. Even just a lull in the chaos to tell her. But he couldn't. Not now. Around him she was too easily harmed. So perishable despite her immortality.

"We always do take things much too far", Fury smiled in a way he didn't want her to. He had hurt her. Physically wounded her. Countless times. Never with his own hands but always...It was always orchestrated by him. He'd get her killed if he didn't back away.

Loki breathed out into the icy air, stepping from her touch. She cocked her eyebrow.

"Perhaps...", His arms folded in an impenetrable shield across his chest where her warmth still lingered, "Come. We should return to the palace". Loki ordered a fraction too late upon realising who he was talking to. Fury let her surprise cross her face for a moment, shaking the ice remnants from her hair the same colour as the moon. Strung up in waves of silver. Those eyes that glowed in the dark like his beloved tesseract lowered to the leaf-covered ground. She breathed out a foggy breath that tore him in half.

"Your choice", The words were little more than a murmur but he heard each as if she had screamed them.

It was his choice of whether he'd leave her a broken mess or a warrior victorious upon his grave. There would be no in between. Not when she found out who he had been conspiring with.

Their love would have the potential to raze cities to the ground in a fiery inferno.

He'd chosen nothing For himself but trickery and chaos. But he could choose to let her be free of him. To spare her the inevitable agony he foresaw. He'd let her have that.

"The palace", Loki ordered once more. A tone too cold. Answered too fast.

"As you wish", Fury feigned a smile, bowing her head to him before trampling through the thick snow. No. He begged his legs that followed her. Let her go. He growled, shaking the branch of icicles with his tone.

A witch hunter. She was a witch hunter. A traitor to her kind. Loki shrivelled his face in indecision. The revelation only made her more coveted. And unbelievably forbidden in the eyes of Odin. To associate with her would be catastrophic. World ending.

But that woman. Her goddamned mischief and secrecy. It called to him.

"...Shit", Loki chuckled, sweeping in his hands, a portal to Furya.

—

* * *

Fury held her satin dress at her thigh, careful of the treacherous ice that slid beneath her boots. It was a perfectly spooky night with fog dancing through the darkness in heavy bounds. Bobbing and weaving before her sight. So thick she could see but a fading light atop the cylindrical palace a few hundred metres in front of her. She admired the view to tear away the feeling of unrequited affection. It was idiotic. So depraved that she had thought...not even thought. She had felt it. Yet she didn't hear the soft patter of his footsteps sinking into the ice. She didn't sense him through the fog where sight failed her. She was alone. Abandoned by him.

Her boots stopped in the snow, wafting freezing air to the split at her leg. Ankle-high frost hugged her heels in bouts of cold then marginally bearable temperatures. Her lips trembled against it. But she would not cry. Not for Loki. Her captive and mission. That was her own doing.

All she needed was a long boiling shower and to pry herself out of this dress. Perhaps she'd sneak down to the kitchens for a snack and then she planned to sleep for a day. Perhaps two. In the comfort of her warm bed while she still had one.

This lavish life she had been living was only to end when she chased after these 'Wildmen'. Then what? Death? Or a small chance of glory?

Fury touched the flake of snow that descended to the ground, watching it melt into nothing but a pool of water on her finger. "Hmm", She observed with a defeated breath.

**_Whoosh_**

Her blue eyes surveyed Loki bounding through the fog. He strode with purpose. His face carved from stone. A creature wrapped in darkness and mystery. There was no time to retaliate not while he hoisted her into his arms like she were weightless. He met her lips mid manoeuvre and kissed her beneath the moonlight. His hand sweeping tantalising at her thigh. The other held her steadily at his waist. His soft lips sparked a fire within her core that shined through her skin in white magic. Steadying as her legs curled around his middle.

Bewilderment riddled her.

Months of fighting. Of bickering. Of blood. And tears. Yet when she touched his face and she felt the rush of his emotions flood her chest it all faded into nothingness. She parted her lips. Unable to breathe. He leaned closer than she thought possible. Wielding that damned intoxicating kiss that crushed into her lips. It swept away any objection she may have had. She felt it unleash that part within herself she had kept buried. And it was not like she had never been kissed. She had never been kissed in a way that burnt her soul and claimed her wholly. Not until that night.

She knew she needed more. More than his raven hair slick at her fingers. More than the skin of his hand propped at the split in her skirt. How it burned her.

"Furya", He spoke into her mouth in his low voice. Ragged from the heavy and breathless kiss. Fury parted from his kiss, watching that beautiful sinister smile shine like a glittering jewel beneath the dull moonlight. "I want that gown in ribbons on the floor", He spoke lowly in a rough tone that made her smirk, touching her clavicle so softly. "And those talons", Loki enclosed his hand around her own, luring her closer to his face "Against my skin as you moan my name, Witch Hunter",

She kissed him in response, softly biting his lower lip with her fangs. It provoked a low growl within his chest. Almost untamable as she allowed him entry to her mouth, gripping her rougher while his tongue roamed, meeting hers in the middle. She ran her hand underneath his shirt, softly digging her nails into the muscle that rippled through his shoulders. Talons burst through her skin in pointed and softly sharp peaks. She ran a singular one down his spine and hardness rose to meet her. Somewhat ignored before but now it dug into her like a dagger. She smiled at his soft groan. His eyes surveyed her spiked nails with lust.

She allowed herself to lean in close, her breath hot on his neck. "Tell me more.", Fury trailed kisses up his neck, soft and enticing, "...In the morning", She nipped with her fangs in a way that stood the hair on his skin straight up. Loki sucked in a deep breath of air. His mind settling just enough to transport them to the comforts of his chamber. He unzipped her dress. The plush black carpet cushioning her back as he laid her down in front of the fireplace that roared with magical flame.


End file.
